White House’s Scaramucci Explodes in New Interview: ‘I’m Not Steve Bannon, I’m Not Trying to Suck My Own C–k’
The White House’s new communications director Anthony Scaramucci had harsh words — to say the least — about some of the top figures in President Donald Trump’s administration.
In an unfiltered interview with the New Yorker on Thursday, Scaramucci took aim particularly at chief strategist Steve Bannon and White House chief of staff Reince Priebus.
Speaking on whether or not he took the White House job for media attention, he jumped on Bannon. “I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own c–k,” he said.
“I’m not trying to build my own brand off the f—ing strength of the President,” he added. “I’m here to serve the country.”
He mostly focused on Priebus, who has been rumored to be on Trump’s chopping block for the past few days. The article by Ryan Lizza describes Scaramucci as having “convinced himself” that Priebus was a source for some of the White House’s leaks.
“They’ll all be fired by me,” he said, referring to White House leakers. “I fired one guy the other day. I have three to four people I’ll fire tomorrow. 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.”
“Reince is a f—ing paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac.”
Early on Thursday evening, Scaramucci tweeted, “I sometimes use colorful language. I will refrain in this arena but not give up the passionate fight for @realDonaldTrump‘s agenda. #MAGA.”
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
Later, he tweeted, “I made a mistake in trusting in a reporter. It won’t happen again.”
I made a mistake in trusting in a reporter. It won't happen again.
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 28, 2017
The in-fighting drama of the White House escalated on Wednesday, when Lizza tweeted that Scaramucci was spotted having dinner with President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Sean Hannity, and former Fox News co-president Bill Shine, citing a senior White House official as his source. According to the report, Scaramucci called Lizza shortly after, asking who his source was, and seemed to think Priebus was the culprit, not just for Lizza’s tweet, but for a Politico report that claimed Scaramucci is worth as much as $85 million in assets and that he took a $5 million salary from his hedge fund SkyBridge Capital in the first half of the year.
In a since-deleted tweet, Scaramucci wrote, “In light of the leak of my financial info which is a felony. I will be contacting @FBI and the @TheJusticeDept #swamp @Reince45.”
He also called into CNN’s “New Day” on Thursday morning and, without mincing words, again accused Priebus of leaking the information (it’s worth noting, however, that the financial disclosure form is a public document. Politico said it obtained the information through the normal channels).
“If Reince wants to explain that he’s not a leaker, let him do that,” he said on CNN. “Let me tell you something about myself — I am a straight shooter, and I’ll go right to the heart of the matter.”
Priebus, Scaramucci theorized, was worried that he wasn’t invited to the dinner. “‘Oh, Bill Shine is coming in. Let me leak the f—ing thing and see if I can c–k-block these people the way I c–k-blocked Scaramucci for six months,'” Scaramucci said in Thursday’s shocking interview.
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, an ally of Priebus, resigned last week when Scaramucci was appointed to his post.
Scaramucci doesn’t officially start in his role as communications director until next month.
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