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Steve Bannon, calling Trump a ‘great man,’ says he still supports him in first comments after eruption

Stephen K. Bannon used to be a member of President Trump's inner circle, but now he's been ousted from Breitbart News after critical comments in a new book. (Video: Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post, Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Stephen K. Bannon called President Trump “a great man” late Wednesday night and said he supported him “day in and day out.”

Bannon’s comments on “Breitbart News Tonight,” which is broadcast on Sirius XM radio, came just hours after Trump said his former chief strategist had “lost his mind” and had his lawyer issue a cease-and-desist letter for Bannon.

“The president is a great man,” said Bannon, in response to a caller’s question about the extraordinary rift that developed Wednesday between the two men. “You know I support him day in and day out.”

It was the most direct reference in the program, otherwise devoted to immigration, to the explosive day that had just passed as a result of the release of some searing book excerpts that quoted Bannon.

Bannon, among other things, is quoted describing as “treasonous” and “unpatriotic” a Trump Tower meeting during the campaign between Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and a Russian lawyer.

At another point in the book, he is quoted as calling the president’s daughter Ivanka “dumb as a brick.”

In response to the excerpts of “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” by Michael Wolff, Trump erupted.

“Stephen K. Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency,” the president said in a statement. “When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.”

Bannon issued no denials pertaining to the quotes during the radio broadcast. Nor did he say anything about the cease-and-desist letter.

More from Morning Mix:

Trump’s cease-and-desist letter: A ‘desperate’ attempt to silence Bannon

Michael Wolff’s Trump book: The latest in a career of controversy

Confused hospital injected anti-psychotic drugs into wrong man, lawsuit alleges

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