Newsmax CEO and POTUS confidante Chris Ruddy divulged to CNN’s Chris Cuomo that President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, both watched his recent appearance on Cuomo PrimeTime and that Trump encouraged him to returns as guest on the network: “I want you on that show. I think it would be great if you go on.”
Ruddy’s surprising comments about the TV viewing habits of Trump come just hours after yet another installment in the president’s long-running feud with CNN, in which he blasted the network’s coverage of him on Twitter and publicly called for a boycott of the network’s parent company, AT&T.
When Cuomo pressed for details about the state dinner at Buckingham Palace, Ruddy, still wearing his white-tie tuxedo from the banquet, said his recent CNN cable news appearance was one of the first things the president mentioned.
“I can tell you the high point of the night was I walk in and say hello to Her Majesty and then the president is right there with Melania and he said how much he enjoyed me on your show, Chris,” Ruddy said, prompting a look of bemusement from Cuomo. “Melania said she loved it and I said ‘Well, Chris just asked me to go on the show tonight.’ And the president said ‘I want you on that show. Go on that show. I think it would great
A somewhat skeptical Cuomo responded with a subdued: “Wow.”
“I was planning to come on, but [the president] endorsed me going on the show,” Ruddy continued, before adding a bit of clean-up to deconflict the apparent hypocrisy of the president privately watching and enjoying CNN while also publicly insulting it. “I wouldn’t say that’s necessarily endorsement of your show.”
Watch the video above, via CNN.