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| OUT.....Anthony Scaramucci |
By Olivier Knox and Christopher Wilson
In the latest shake-up inside President Trump’s volatile White House, communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, has been removed from his position just 11 days after he was brought into the West Wing.
“Anthony Scaramucci will be leaving his role as White House Communications Director,” said White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in a statement. “Mr. Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team. We wish him all the best.”
The flamboyant financier’s shock departure came with twists that would not be out of place in a Hollywood White House. Scaramucci’s arrival led to the departure of chief of staff,Reince Priebus, and press secretary, Sean Spicer, while his ouster has been credited to the man who replaced Priebus.
The White House statement announcing Scaramucci’s departure was crafted in the office that Spicer, for now, still occupies. The outgoing press secretary, approached by reporters to confirm early news reports of Scaramucci’s departure, was all smiles and would not say whether or not he would now be staying on.
While Trump has suffered more turnover among this top aides than any modern president, Scaramucci’s removal seemed to be more a sign of order than chaos. It suggested an attempt by Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, to impose discipline, and notably to enforce a traditional pecking order.
Whereas past communications directors have answered to the chief of staff, Scaramucci’s arrangement had him reporting directly to Trump.
In just over six months in office, Trump has shed his first national security adviser (Michael Flynn), communications director (Mike Dubke), press secretary (Sean Spicer), deputy chief of staff (Katie Walsh), deputy national security adviser (K.T. McFarland) and now his chief of staff.
His attorney general, Republican former senator Jeff Sessions, has been in an increasingly tenuous position, with the president openly criticizing him, but stopping short of firing him or asking him to resign.
The president had announced Friday via Twitter that he was replacing Priebus with Kelly, who had been serving as secretary of homeland security.
Scaramucci, who accepted his short-lived role on July 21, made headlines less than a week after assuming the post with a profane interview with The New Yorker in which he insulted members of the White House staff, including Priebus, whom he also singled out in attacks on Twitter, suggested he believed the one-time RNC chair had leaked information to the media.
The New York Times reported that Scaramucci’s removal came at Kelly’s request.
Over the weekend reports surfaced that Scaramucci’s wife had filed for divorce in early July.
While he had already stepped into the public eye, Scaramucci’s official start date was set for Aug. 15, meaning his tenure has ended literally before it officially began.
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