Trump's not a racist — he just lacks any empathy for people: ex-White House official

CNN's Abby Philip on Monday had an awkward discussion with a former Trump official about whether the former president is really a racist.

During an interview, former Trump White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci made the case that Trump's long history of racist remarks aren't necessarily indicative of a deeply held racism along the lines of David Duke.

"He's an objectifier of people," Scaramucci explained. "And so if people asked me, like, 'Is Trump a racist? He's not a racist?' — he sees you as an object in a field of vision... He'll run you over and say racist things if he thinks it's going to serve as political interests. And then the flip side is he'll pardon an African grandmother if it serves his political interests or spend time with Kanye [West] if he thinks it serves his political interests."

Philip chimed in to say that this doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement of Trump's character.

"Laid out a couple of scenarios there, both of them sounded not not so great in terms of what kind of character you think Donald Trump is," she solemnly added.

ALSO READ: Judge rejects Fox News-inspired Georgia man who rained hate on school administrator

The discussion about Trump's objectification of people was inspired by former Trump "fixer" Michael Cohen testifying that Trump seemed totally unconcerned about how his wife, Melania Trump, would react to both his sexual encounter with adult film star Stormy Daniels and his infamous "Access Hollywood" video in which he boasted about being able to get away with grabbing women's genitals.

Cohen added: "He wasn't thinking about Melania," regarding the alleged coverup. "It was all about the campaign."

Circling back to this, Scaramucci said that former First Lady Melania Trump is "just another object in his field of vision" and that he believes he "doesn't treat people with any level of empathy or attachment or connection."

Watch the video below or at this link.

'Not so great': CNN's Abby Phillip hits back as ex-aide claims Trump's not a racistwww.youtube.com