(NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump faced criticism for violent imagery against President Joe Biden in a social media post, with his one-time White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci calling it “disgraceful.”
On his Truth Social platform, Trump shared a video that contains the image of a hog-tied Biden painted on the tailgate of a passing truck. It drew a sharp rebuke from Scaramucci during a Monday interview on NewsNation’s “Dan Abrams Live.”
“There’s a hate speech pattern about this stuff that I really don’t like,” said Scaramucci, who served a turbulent 10-day stint as Trump’s communications chief in 2017. “It’s disgraceful that a former president would show a picture like that.”
While acknowledging previous presidents engaged in harsh rhetoric against rivals, Scaramucci argued Trump’s rhetoric could incite violence among his fervent supporters. He said any other public figure making similar comments would be “in jail for that kind of nonsense.”
Abrams pushed back slightly, saying he wasn’t as concerned about imagery directed at Biden, who has Secret Service protection, versus comments about a judge’s daughter that he considered “downright dangerous.”
Trump came under fire last week when he attacked Judge Juan Merchan, who recently imposed a gag order against the former president in the hush money case. Trump also targeted Merchan’s daughter, Loren, who is a Democratic political consultant.
“If you’re showing imagery like that, there could be a voter or an acolyte of Donald Trump that thinks that that’s a license for violence,” Scaramucci said.
NewsNation’s affiliate The Hill contributed to this report.