Anthony Scaramucci Sure Has Made A Lot Of Blunders In His First Week
Anthony Scaramucci, Donald Trump's new communications director, was hired last Friday to turn the White House's ailing communications strategy around. So far, he seems to be steering the ship in the same unfortunate direction as former press secretary Sean Spicer did — only faster. Here's a list of things Scaramucci has done or said in the past couple of days.
Update 2:
The Mooch is fired. According to the Harvard Law School's new directory, he's also dead.
Update: He Gave A Profane, Angry Interview To The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza
In the interview, which Lizza recounted in an article published this afternoon, Scaramucci demanded that Lizza reveal his sources, called Priebus "a fucking paranoid schizophrenic," said that Priebus "cock-blocked" him, and accused Steve Bannon of "trying to suck [his] own cock," among other things. It's… insane.
He Said America's Health Care System Should Be More Like The Airline And Telecommunications Industries
In an interview yesterday on CNN, Scaramucci said that Americans should "trust the process of the free market" when it comes to health insurance, "like in telecom, like in airlines" — perhaps unaware that Americans hate cable companies and airlines more than any other industries.
He Compared Republicans' Efforts To Repeal Obamacare To Lincoln's Efforts To End Slavery
Talking to a BBC reporter, Scaramucci explained Republicans' long delay in passing a healthcare bill by pointing out that at least it hasn't taken as long as abolishing slavery — not the most sensitive metaphor.
If you've read "Team of Rivals," it took Lincoln three or four times to get what he wanted from the Senate and the House of Representatives, which was the full abolition of slavery. That was a much tougher thing to get done than what we're working on right now.
He Claimed, Incorrectly, That His Financial Disclosure Form Had Been Illegally Leaked
This one's a doozy. Last night, Scaramucci tweeted (and then deleted) the following in response to a Politico article about a financial disclosure form Scaramucci filed with the Office of Government Ethics:
This was a rare trifecta of misinformation, since
(1) The financial disclosure form hadn't been leaked, seeing as it's publicly available upon request.
(2) Government leaks are usually only illegal when they involve national defense, classified information or valuable government property, which means a hypothetical leak of Scaramucci's financial forms would not be "a felony."
(3) White House chief of staff Reince Priebus — whom Scaramucci tagged at the end of the tweet, leading many to speculate that Scaramucci was accusing Priebus of leaking — was not actually involved in the leak, since, again, there was no leak. (Scaramucci later claimed he tagged Priebus to announce "that all Sr Adm officials are helping to end illegal leaks." Yeah, right.)
After Falsely Accusing Priebus Of Leaking His Financial Info, He Put The Onus On Priebus To Exonerate Himself
Instead of apologizing for his mistake, Scaramucci told CNN this morning, "If Reince wants to explain that he's not a leaker, let him do that." Not very nice, Anthony!
He Said Leakers Would Have Been Hanged For Treason 150 Years Ago
Also in that interview with CNN, Scaramucci called some leaks "so treasonous that 150 years ago, people would have actually been hung for those types of leaks." You might catch a hint of approval in his voice.
He Said He Discussed Leaks With People In The Department Of Justice, A Violation Of DOJ Rules
Still on CNN, Scaramucci said he had discussed White House leaks with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and was planning to discuss them with "buddies in the FBI." Both conversations would be a violation of DOJ rules that prohibit contact between most White House officials and DOJ officials.
He Cited Joe Paterno As A Model Of 'Honor And Dignity'
In the same unhinged interview on CNN, Scaramucci for some reason brought up Joe Paterno, the disgraced former football coach at Penn State:
Why don't you honor the job? Remember Joe Paterno? What would he say? You have to act like you've been there before. Act with honor and dignity and respect and hold the confidence of the presidency and his office.
Paterno was fired after it came out that he had covered up his assistant coach's sexual abuse of children for more than a decade.
Thank god it's almost Friday!