White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Thursday blasted former national security adviser John Bolton's new book as “deep swamp revenge porn," lashing out at the author of the latest Trump administration tell-all.
The White House has turned its ire on Bolton after portions of his scathing, forthcoming memoir leaked Wednesday night. The book alleges that Trump asked China for reelection help and that he lacked basic knowledge of geopolitics.
In an interview on Fox News, Navarro said “book deal, big lie John Bolton” was among the least effective officials in the Trump White House and criticized Bolton for his well-known hawkishness.
"He comes in here in his like seersucker summer suits with the big mustache. I was in a staff meeting one time; he walked in and he was absolutely giddy at the prospect of a coup in Venezuela,” Navarro told Fox News. “It was like weird, and I'm thinking to myself, ‘Wait a minute. This is a serious, serious matter and he is giddy. There's something wrong with that dude.’”
Navarro claimed he saw Bolton beg for the job of national security adviser. A “warlord” who set up an autonomous zone in the National Security Council, Navarro said Bolton largely focused on coups in Venezuela rather than U.S.-China relations.
The Department of Justice is suing to stop the publication of Bolton’s book, which has already been printed and advance copies of which have already made their way into the media. The Justice Department filed an emergency application in U.S. District Court on Wednesday for a restraining order, claiming Bolton’s memoir contains damaging national security information that is true.
The move comes as Trump, Navarro and other administration officials claim Bolton’s book is full of lies.
"Bolton’s book, which is getting terrible reviews, is a compilation of lies and made up stories, all intended to make me look bad," Trump tweeted Thursday morning. "Many of the ridiculous statements he attributes to me were never made, pure fiction. Just trying to get even for firing him like the sick puppy he is!"
Trump also tweeted that he should have fired Bolton in April 2018, after Bolton said the White House was looking to the Libyan model to approach negotiations with North Korea.
On "Fox and Friends" Thursday morning, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also questioned Bolton's account and said he "is a misguided hawk on foreign policy and a weak dove of an author."
"He's discredited on both sides of the aisle, and if you thought [former FBI Director James] Comey was the most disliked man in America, I think John Bolton has now taken that title," McEnany said.
