Trump's EPA chief once said Trump would do 'truly unconstitutional' things if he won the presidency

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has some serious concerns about Donald Trump. Or rather, he did, way back in the long-ago time of February 2016, before Trump won the presidency and tapped Pruitt to lead the environmental agency.

Appearing on The Pat Campbell Show, a talk show in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, market, Pruitt — then the state's attorney general — predicted that Trump would "use executive power to confront Congress in a way that is truly unconstitutional" were he to win the presidency. At the time, Politico notes, Pruitt was an adviser to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), who was vying for the Republican nomination against Trump.

Pruitt's remarks were publicized Tuesday by the watchdog group Documented. During his appearance, Pruitt also unfavorably compared Trump to then-President Barack Obama. When host Pat Campbell remarked that "everything that we loathe and detest about Barack Obama and the abuses of power, Donald Trump is the same thing except he's our bully," Pruitt replied, "That's right."

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The future EPA chief also agreed with Campbell's assessment of Trump as "dangerous." At one point, Pruitt prophesied that Trump "would be more abusive to the Constitution than Barack Obama."

Pruitt was asked about the comments during a Senate hearing Tuesday and claimed to not remember making any such remarks, Politico reports. He did, however, subsequently release a glowing statement about his boss: "After meeting him, and now having the honor of working for him, it is abundantly clear that President Trump is the most consequential leader of our time," he said.