Former President Donald Trump name-dropped “weak” and “incompetent” hires in his administration on Sunday before Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo asserted that he didn’t “drain the swamp” as he promised to do in 2016.
Trump, who also pledged to surround himself with “the best people” during his 2016 campaign, called ex-Attorney General William Barr “weak and pathetic” and former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper “incompetent” before Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo questioned him about his hires.
“You know most people were good but I had some people… I thought we had other people I didn’t like,” said Trump.
“Why did you put them in the job then?” asked Bartiromo of Barr, Esper and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The former president, on Sunday, went on to argue that he minimized his time in D.C. and “didn’t know the people” there.
“I know the people now better than anybody has ever known. The people I know, the good ones, the bad ones, the dumb ones, the smart ones,” said Trump before Bartiromo checked him with her blunt commentary.
“You didn’t drain the swamp like you said you would,” she said, “You didn’t drain the swamp.”
“I did, I fired [former FBI director James] Comey, I fired a lot of people. A lot of the people I had, I fired,” Trump replied.
Bartiromo isn’t the first Fox News personality to confront Trump on his 2016 campaign vow.
The former president – in an interview with Fox’s Bret Baier in June – claimed he made a “fantastic” hire one in every 10 times after the host went through a list of former hires who hadn’t yet backed Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, in a tweet regarding Trump’s hiring skills, knocked his primary challenger over his hiring abilities, as well.
“It’s plain and simple: Either Donald Trump doesn’t know how to pick personnel, or he’s the worst manager in the history of the American presidency. Here’s Trump’s before and after for, as he said, ‘the best’ staff hires,” Christie wrote in a tweet.