Top Trump aide Stephen Miller was booted off CNN on Sunday, after engaging in testy exchanges with network anchor Jake Tapper over the book "Fire and Fury."
During his appearance, Miller attempted to defend President Donald Trump against explosive claims made in a new book, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House."
Miller took aim at comments attributed to Stephen Bannon, the former White House chief strategist whose quotes in Michael Wolff's book triggered acrimonious replies from Trump and his supporters. In the book, Bannon was highly critical of a meeting that took place between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer, calling it "treasonous" and "unpatriotic."
On CNN's "State of the Union," Miller denounced Bannon's remarks as "grotesque" and described the president as a "political genius."
During a volley of last-minute exchanges in which the two men were talking over each other, Miller accused CNN of bias, while Tapper said Miller was trying to please only one person: Trump. "I think I've wasted enough of my viewers' time," Tapper said before shifting to another topic.
The exchange prompted a defense of Miller by Trump, who launched into a diatribe against the network. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich — an ally of the president and a fellow Republican — also defended Miller, calling Tapper "condescending and unself aware" in a Twitter post.
Claims in Wolff's book have put the White House on the defensive and led to Trump to publicly defending his intelligence and mental fitness for the presidency.
On Sunday, Bannon issued an apology. Bannon, who runs the pro-Trump website Breitbart News, voiced support that's "unwavering for the president and his agenda."
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the spelling of Stephen Bannon's first name.