Lewandowski made his first appearance on Erin Burnett's "Outfront" program Thursday evening. He joins a stable of political commentators on a network that is covering the presidential campaign intensely. CNN has used a handful of Trump surrogates in its coverage, most prominently Jeffrey Lord and Kaleigh McEnany. The Associated Press has reported that Trump requires nearly everyone working in his businesses and presidential campaign to sign nondisclosure agreements preventing them from releasing confidential or disparaging information about him.
Corey Lewandowski, campaign manager for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, appears at a campaign stop at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y. CNN has hired Lewandowski as a commentator on the campaign, only days after he was fired by Trump. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
FILE - In this April 18, 2016 file photo, Corey Lewandowski, campaign manager for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, appears at a campaign stop at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y. CNN has hired Lewandowski as a commentator on the campaign, only days after he was fired by Trump.
Interviewed by Burnett, Lewandowski said he had agreed not to release confidential information. But when asked directly whether he had agreed not to "demean or disparage" Trump or his family, Lewandowski would not say. "I'm a guy who calls balls and strikes," he said. "That's what I've done my entire career. That's not going to change." Burnett asked Lewandowski whether, upon three days of reflection, he felt angry about his firing. "I don't," he said. "I feel honored to have been part of changing the American political system for the rest of our lives and hopefully so much further. The Trump family has been so good to me and my family and so generous that it's been so humbling to know that for a small period of time I had a small role in helping this campaign."
He said Trump was the only person who was going to save the country. "Certainly nothing disparaging there," Burnett said. Lewandowski also defended Trump for alleging that foreign governments had hacked into Hillary Clinton's email server when she was secretary of state, even as the candidate, under questioning by NBC News' Lester Holt, could not provide any proof of his accusation. "You have to raise an issue," he said.
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