Anthony Scaramucci likened President Donald Trump's rallies to a Frank Sinatra performance, saying the president is "redefining what the word 'presidential' means."
However, the former White House communications director also told MSNBC that if he were still dispensing guidance, he'd advise the president to not attack members of the media because "it's not good for America."
"He is the president. So at the end of the day … he is redefining what the word 'presidential' means," said Sunday on MSNBC's "Kasie DC" program.
Scaramucci was commenting on the president's performance the day before during a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania on behalf of Rick Saccone ahead of Tuesday's special election there.
"When he's on a stage, he's like a Frank Sinatra sort of performer and he plays to the crowd," Scaramucci told MSNBC host Kasie Hunt.
"And people in those sorts of towns … by and large in that district (of Pennsylvania), they get the joke with the president," Scaramucci said. "They understand his sense of humor and they welcome it. They sort of know and they can read between the lines of when he's being serious and when he's not being serious."
However, Scaramucci does believe the president takes things too far against the media.
"I think sometimes when he's tweeting at journalists as an example, I would tell him, 'Hey, let's not do that,'" Scaramucci said. "I think that we made a very big mistake early on in the administration when Steve Bannon declared war on the media. I didn't agree with that at all.
"It's OK to disagree, but let's not be at war because it's not good for America. I don't think it's good for him personally and it's not good for the presidency," Scaramucci said. "So that stuff I would really caution him on and give him advice not to do.
"I know he respects the press. I just think we need to de-escalate," Scaramucci said.
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