Scaramucci declares war on Priebus, Bannon

Source: Politico | July 27, 2017 | Josh Dawsey

The newly appointed communications director is intent on ‘fixing’ the West Wing — and ousting other top aides.

Anthony Scaramucci, the flashy and sometimes profane Wall Street financier, was brought on as White House communications director last Friday. It’s already clear he’s a lot more than that.

In the span of six days, he has launched a brutally edged campaign to identify White House leakers, threatened to “fire everybody” in the communications shop, and has declared war on chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon.

Scaramucci, who boasted that he reports directly to President Donald Trump, has described his role as “fixing the place,” said one person who spoke with him this week.

And he’s wasting no time.

In a vulgar interview with The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza on Wednesday night, Scaramucci laced into Priebus for trying to “c— block” him from a job in the White House, called him a “f—— paranoid schizophrenic,” and questioned Bannon’s loyalty.

“I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own c—,” he said.

One person who talked to Scaramucci said he talks openly about getting rid of Priebus, the former Republican National Committee chairman whose job has appeared to be in jeopardy for months.

“He’s got to go,” this person said, summarizing Scaramucci’s comments about Priebus.

It’s unclear how the New Yorker interview will impact Scaramucci’s standing with Trump, but the president has already praised Scaramucci’s brawler instincts, including his ability to get a retraction from CNN on an article that linked Scaramucci to the Russia investigations. But his attacks on fellow aides are sure to draw some condemnations and questions about his own future in the West Wing.

Scaramucci suggested in a tweet on Thursday evening that he would pull back on the profanities, but he did not apologize. “I sometimes use colorful language. I will refrain in this arena but not give up the passionate fight for @realDonaldTrump‘s agenda. #MAGA,” he wrote.

Scaramucci’s arrival was described by one adviser as “a cannonball from a diving board into a pool.” With his brash outer-borough New York ethos and flair for showmanship, Scaramucci is perhaps more like Trump himself than anyone else on the White House staff—and his appointment is a clear signal that the president is walking away from his initial embrace of establishment Republicans familiar with Washington.

Instead, Trump is choosing the gut-driven approach that won him the presidency. And that especially doesn’t bode well for Priebus.

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