Why Is Anthony Scaramucci Out? Trump Reportedly Removed 'The Mooch,' Former White House Communications Director
By Tim Marcin On 7/31/17 at 3:00 PM EDT
U.S. Anthony Scaramucci Donald Trump IS Scaramucci
Just 10 days after "The Mooch" came, he went.
The New York Times reported Monday that "President [Donald] Trump has decided to remove Anthony Scaramucci from his position as communications director." Soon after, ABC News reported that Scaramucci, often playfully called by his nickname "The Mooch," had resigned.
Scaramucci, a New York financier, came onboard as communications director just 10 days ago, which was what reportedly led former Press Secretary Sean Spicer to resign. Citing multiple anonymous sources, The New York Times reported that Scaramucci's being forced out was the work of new Chief of Staff John Kelly, who took over the job this week after Reince Priebus resigned from the position last week.
"Anthony Scaramucci will be leaving his role as White House Communications Director," the White House Press Office said in statement. "Mr. Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team."
The Times reported it was not clear if Scaramucci would stay on in a different role in the White House or leave altogether. His brief tenure was defined by tumult and headlines, most notably coming from a profanity-laden interview last week with Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker. The story was full of attacks on other people surrounding Trump, including an especially crude insult at an adviser, as Scaramucci attempted to detail how he did not want media attention.
"I'm not Steve Bannon, I'm not trying to suck my own cock," he said. "I'm not trying to build my own brand off the fucking strength of the President. I'm here to serve the country."
In the same interview, he slammed Priebus (then the chief of staff) and threatened the people he thought might be leaking information to the press. "What I want to do is I want to fucking kill all the leakers and I want to get the President's agenda on track so we can succeed for the American people," he said.
Scaramucci seemed to mirror Trump's braggadocio and New York style-tone during his stint as communications director. To compliment Trump, for instance, Scaramucci told reporters, "I've seen this guy throw a dead spiral through a tire. I've seen him at Madison Square Garden with a topcoat on. He's standing in the key and he's hitting foul shots and swishing them, OK? He sinks 3-foot putts." But there were also gaffes, like when he cited an anonymous source on Russia, then quickly revealed the source was the president.
ABC News reported that Scaramucci submitted his resignation to Kelly and requested to be made chief strategy officer at the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Before joining the White House, Scaramucci ran SkyBridge Capital, a hedge fund he founded.
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