Recently appointed communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, has made his presence known in the White House and is prepared to shake things up in the administration.
Boasting an aggressive, no-nonsense New Yorker mentality shared by his boss, President Trump, Scaramucci has acquired significant pull in the young administration, displaying a noticeable contempt for establishment Republicans who have consistently opposed the president’s agenda.
In his quest to gain influence in the administration, Scaramucci has spearheaded an internal campaign within the White House to keep all personal and sensitive information within the confines of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. That’s a role traditionally the responsibility of the Chief of Staff, currently Reince Priebus, former chair of the Republican National Committee. But Scaramucci doesn’t care how that looks to the outside viewer.
As reported in the Hill, Scaramucci is challenging Priebus’ authority in the White House, but says, “No I don’t see how it would be usurping the power of the chief of staff. There are other assistants to the president that report directly to the president, so I don’t see that as an issue. Reince and I have no problem getting along.”
After his financial disclosure form (an unclassified document) was released to the media, Scaramucci, in a short yet powerful tweet, seemed to implicate Priebus as a potential culprit in the leak. However, the tweet was later deleted.
But Scaramucci’s tweet is surely a harbinger for an imminent showdown between the two most prominent staff members in the White House, each representing polar opposites of the Republican spectrum. The tension is palpable. Scaramucci has now put Priebus in the hot seat and wants answers.
From the Hill:
White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said early Thursday that if chief of staff Reince Priebus wants to explain he isn’t a leaker, he can do that.
During an interview on CNN’s “New Day,” Scaramucci, who has vowed to crack down on those leaking information from the White House, said he doesn’t like “the activity that’s going on in the White House.”
“I don’t like what they’re doing to my friends. I don’t like what they’re doing to the president of the United States or their fellow colleagues in the West Wing,” he said.
“He’s the chief of staff,” he said. “He’s responsible for understanding and recovering and helping me do that inside the White House, which is why I put that tweet out last night.”
Scaramucci said on Thursday that he respects journalists for not telling him who the leakers are.
“I understand and respect journalists with integrity,” he said.
“However, when I put out a tweet and I put Reince’s name in the tweet, they’re all making the assumption that it’s him, because journalists know who the leakers are,” he continued.
“So if Reince wants to explain that he’s not a leaker, let him do that.”
The fall of the establishment Republicans in the era of Trump is inevitable. After the recent healthcare legislation debacle and the failure of congressional Republicans to stand firmly behind the president in his initiatives, Scaramucci and Trump are ready, more than ever, to bring a “New York state of mind” to Washington and drain the swamp once and for all.
Source: Allen West
