UPDATED, 7:22 PM: Soon after newly installed White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci Googled the phrase “on the record” (we assume), he did the Trumpian thing and took to Twitter to clarify his stance on ranting to the press. To wit:
I made a mistake in trusting in a reporter. It won't happen again.
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 28, 2017
PREVIOUSLY, 4:03 PM: Anthony Scaramucci noticed New Yorker reporter Ryan Lizza’s tweet last night that President Donald Trump was having dinner with Scaramucci and Fox News Channel’ Sean Hannity and ex-FNC exec Bill Shine. That resulted in a phone call Scaramucci made to Lizza late Wednesday that became a wild, profanity-filled, no-holds-barred interview piece on NewYorker.com in which the new newly installed White House Communications Director teed off on press leaks, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Trump adviser Steve Bannon and more.
As for actual potential news, Lizza said Scaramucci revealed in the call that he would fire the entire White House communications team, that Priebus will be asked to resign and that he’s firing more people today.
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“I fired one guy the other day,” Scaramucci said Wednesday night in the phone call, according to the report, after he demanded Lizza tell him the source of his dinner-party scoop. “I have three to four people I’ll fire tomorrow [Thursday]. I’ll get to the person who leaked that to you. Reince Priebus — if you want to leak something — he’ll be asked to resign very shortly.”
No word from the White House about such actions today; deputy press aide Michael Short resigned Tuesday. Scaramucci has not backed down from the New Yorker piece, just now tweeting:
I sometimes use colorful language. I will refrain in this arena but not give up the passionate fight for @realDonaldTrump's agenda. #MAGA
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 27, 2017
No firings have been reported so far today.
Priebus and Scaramucci have been at odds, with the former allegedly keeping Scaramucci out of the White House mix until Trump appointed him Communications Director, which resulted in the resignation of Press Secretary Sean Spicer, a Priebus ally. Scaramucci told the New Yorker that Priebus eventually will resign, and that “[Priebus] didn’t get the hint that I was reporting directly to the president.”
Scaramucci called Priebus “a f*cking paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac” in the story. Lizza said he “channeled Priebus as he spoke: ‘Oh, Bill Shine is coming in. Let me leak the f*cking thing and see if I can c*ck-block these people the way I c*ck-blocked Scaramucci for six months.’ ”
Among other revelations about “The Mooch” in the New Yorker piece:
He’s not Steve Bannon: Scaramucci said: “I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own c*ck. I’m not trying to build my own brand off the f*cking strength of the president. I’m here to serve the country.”
He has nailed the White House press leakers: Scaramucci said of the White House leaks: “This is going to get cleaned up very shortly, OK?. Because I nailed these guys. I’ve got digital fingerprints on everything they’ve done through the FBI and the f*cking Department of Justice.” Later he added, “Well, the felony, they’re gonna get prosecuted, probably, for the felony.”
He likes to tweet: According to Lizza, Scaramucci ended the call saying, “Yeah, let me go, though, because I’ve gotta start tweeting some sh*t to make this guy crazy.”