White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci Out At White House

Just one week after taking over as White House Communications Director, tech investor Anthony Scaramucci has been removed from his position on what also happens to be the first day on the job for new White House Chief of Staff John Kelly:

WASHINGTON — President Trump has decided to remove Anthony Scaramucci from his position as communications director, three people close to the decision said Monday, relieving him just days after Mr. Scaramucci unloaded a crude verbal tirade against other senior members of the president’s senior staff.

Mr. Scaramucci’s abrupt removal came just 10 days after the wealthy New York financier was brought on to the West Wing staff, a move that convulsed an already chaotic White House and led to the departures of Sean Spicer, the former press secretary, and Reince Priebus, the president’s first chief of staff.

The decision to remove Mr. Scaramucci, who had boasted about reporting directly to the president not the chief of staff, John F. Kelly, came at Mr. Kelly’s request, the people said. Mr. Kelly made clear to members of the White House staff at a meeting Monday morning that he is in charge.

Scaramucci’s dismissal comes just ten days after he began in the position, a move that prompted the resignation of Sean Spicer, who had been serving in the dual roles of Press Secretary and Communications Director and after a week of public head-butting with former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus that included a profanity-laced interview with The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza in which he attacked Priebus and senior Trump adviser Steve Bannon. Priebus, of course, was dismissed late last week and replaced with former Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who took over as Chief of Staff today.  Kelly’s appointment prompted much speculation over the weekend regarding what changes he might make to the White House, including whether he would be able to work with Scaramucci, who reportedly had been among the people authorized to report directly to Trump rather than through the Chief of Staff as is ordinarily the case. The fact that Scaramucci was let go on Kelly’s first day is clearly not coincidentally, and it’s being reported that getting rid of him was among Kelly’s first demands upon taking the job of Chief of Staff. In addition, Scaramucci quickly became a source of controversy and ended up having several details about his life revealed publicly, including the issues surrounding the sale of his company to a company with ties to the Chinese military and revelations regarding the fact that his wife had recently filed for divorce even while being pregnant with the couple’s child.

In any case, Scaramucci’s dismissal after only ten days appears to make him the person to hold that position on anything but an interim basis in American history. Unfortunately, it also means that we’ll never see that Saturday Night Live impersonation that would obviously be coming but for the fact that the show is currently on summer break. More seriously, it could be a sign that, at least initially, General Kelly is at least trying to impose some discipline on the White House. The utlimite question, though, will be whether he can impose discipline on the President. That will be his hardest task.

Update: The White House has issued this statement:

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Mark Ivey says:

    But was it a front stab????

  2. Just Another Ex-Republican says:

    Wow. Hope sacrificing his marriage to suck Trump’s cock (I mean, it was obvious he wasn’t trying to suck his own Bannon style) was worth it.

  3. Mister Bluster says:

    Extra Point Quiz
    WHO SAID:

    Put a sock in it, boy, or else you’ll be outta here like sh*t through a goose.

    A. Rince Repeat
    B. John Kelly
    C. Dean Wormer
    D. Slats Grobnik

  4. Franklin says:

    I literally laughed out loud when I saw the headline. And then I figuratively cried because we just lost a good bit of entertainment.

  5. Mister Bluster says:

    NOW THIS IS BIG!
    Steve Bartman receives 2016 Chicago Cubs World Series Championship ring.
    Trump should consider hiring the Ricketts family to negotiate with N Korea!
    WGN9

  6. grumpy realist says:

    Amazing. Must be the first time in history when the White House Communications Director managed to get himself fired even before officially taking the job.

    (I also think the spotlight-hogging antics of Mr. Mooch had a part to do with it. The hirsute yam may have liked El Mouche’s attack habits, but he isn’t going to share the stage with anyone else. No way, no way, no way!

  7. Gustopher says:

    Too soon. We needed more of him. So much more. Sad.

  8. Mister Bluster says:

    …what’s not important to us is who is employed at the White House,..
    Sarah Huckabee Sanders just said that.

  9. For the surprise of no one that has an IQ with a three digits number the Generals are running the show in a cabinet populated with political neophytes.

  10. For the surprise of no one that has an IQ with a three digits number the Generals are running the show in a cabinet populated with political neophytes.

  11. Joe says:

    “We will have the best people.”

    – D. Trump

    Nice hire, Mr. President.

  12. CSK says:

    Oh, hell. I was looking forward to making jokes about Mangolini and Moocholini.

    @grumpy realist:

    You’re quite right. He had to go. Moocholini out-Trumped Trump in the psychotically vulgar bullyboy department. And nobody out-Trumps The Mangolini.

  13. CSK says:

    And, to add to the hilarity, the Harvard Law School Directory reported him as dead in its 2011 edition.

    Were they prescient?

  14. teve tory says:

    fine. tuned. machine.

  15. gVOR08 says:

    @CSK:

    Mangolini and Moocholini.

    Il Douche and Il Mooche?

  16. CSK says:

    @gVOR08:

    That will do as well.

    Il Mooche was apparently escorted out of the WH by armed security guards.

    To paraphrase a quote from that great gangster movie Little Caesar, “Mother of Mercy, is this the end of Moochie?”

  17. Paul Hooson says:

    I’m personally in mourning. This guy was so absurd I was laughing at him for days and probably thought of at least a hundred jokes he inspired.

    I’ll leave you with one here: I went to a hockey game, but a Trump Administration broke out…

  18. Mister Bluster says:

    The White House
    Office of the Press Secretary
    For Immediate Release July 21, 2017

    President Donald J. Trump Appoints Anthony Scaramucci to be White House Communications Director
    President Trump said, “Anthony is a person I have great respect for, and he will be an important addition to this Administration. He has been a great supporter and will now help implement key aspects of our agenda while leading the communications team. We have accomplished so much, and we are being given credit for so little. The good news is the people get it, even if the media doesn’t.”

    Bungles: I’ve given up on any of you realizing that Trump isn’t the problem,..

    He’s not?

  19. al-Ameda says:

    … and so, into the blender goes Scaramucci
    Honest Question:
    What is it with these people?
    Why do they take positions in the Trump White House in the first place?
    Is it because they want to be a brief fleeting moment in the history books?

  20. Mister Bluster says:

    Why do they take positions in the Trump White House in the first place?

    What I want to do is I want to f*cking kill all the leakers and I want to get the president’s agenda on track so we can succeed for the American people.

    Because he believes in himself?

  21. Slugger says:

    Some people work in the White House in order to advance their personal status, power, and wealth. Some work there to serve the nation with a genuine sense of patriotism and duty. This episode is going to keep the self-advancers out of working for Trump. Once he has surrounded himself with people who put the mission ahead of loyalty to a person, Trump will have sealed his downfall.

  22. Hal_10000 says:

    But … the Presidential Yam assured us on Twitter that there was no chaos.

  23. Davebo says:

    Jason Miller. Selected as first communications director Dec. 22, 2016. Resigned Xmas eve.

    Spicer takes over on interim basis.

    Feb. 17, President Trump announced the hiring of Mike Dubke as communications director. Dubke quit three months later.

    Again, Spicer takes over on interim basis.

    July 21, Trump installed Anthony Scaramucci. 10 days later he’s gone.

    Can’t wait to see who’s willing to give it a shot now!

  24. de stijl says:

    Mooch didn’t the Cadillac El Dorado. He didn’t even get the steak knives.

    Was he even allowed to drink coffee?

  25. Rodney dill says:

    Now he can be on Dancing With The Stars along with Spicer

  26. CSK says:

    @Hal_10000:

    Yeah, like Kevin Bacon in Animal House yelling “Remain calm; all is well” just before getting flattened into a pancake.

  27. dazedandconfused says:

    CSK,

    Have a heart. I don’t give a damn about The Mooch, but think of all the comedy writers who are now contemplating a week’s worth of good work in the round file. Their colleagues are seeing the “Thousand Joke Stare” today.

    I thought he and Kelly would have to have a showdown, Kelly against Trump’s obvious soul-mate is a difficult match to call on paper. But Kelly ate The Mooch. Kelly crapped The Mooch. Kelly put The Mooch in a paper bag, placed The Mooch on Trump’s front porch, and lit The Mooch on fire.

    Worst match up since Bambi v. Godzilla.

  28. Mister Bluster says:

    Yeah, like Kevin Bacon in Animal House yelling “Remain calm; all is well” just before getting flattened into a pancake.

    SERENITY NOW!

  29. Christopher M says:

    @de stijl:

    Nah…coffee’s for closers only.

  30. CSK says:

    @dazedandconfused:

    I know. It is sad. I was looking forward to the SNL routines.

  31. de stijl says:

    @Christopher M:

    Dollars to doughnuts, Mooch’s favorite movie of all time is The Wolf Of Wall Street.

    Second place is a set of steak knives Boiler Room.

    Third is Goodfellas.

    And now he’s eating egg noodles with ketchup just like a schnook.

  32. Mister Bluster says:

    …he’s eating egg noodles with ketchup just like a schnook.

    Daily Mail EXCLUSIVEThe last supper: The Mooch dines at the Trump hotel in DC as he waves goodbye to his life as White House communications chief – hours after being fired and marched out just 10 days into his new job

    He dined at the Trump Hotel’s BLT Prime with former Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson and a couple of administration employees.

    (I wonder if he paid the ticket before his Government Credit Card was cut off?)

  33. dazedandconfused says:

    @CSK:

    Jim Carry? Bill Hador? Tina Fey??

    We’ll never know…now.