Anthony Scaramucci may go down in history as the shortest-lived White House Communications Director in history, removed Monday after only ten days on the job following a tumultuous week during which he reportedly unleashed a tirade against other members of President Donald Trump’s staff, and reports surfaced that his wife had filed for divorce.
Scaramucci came into the White House – and thus the public eye and media target range – in a whirling news cycle that saw the abrupt resignation of former press secretary Sean Spicer. The past 72 hours have seen the departure of Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff, replaced by retired Gen. John Kelly. The events have reinforced the narrative that the Trump administration is in chaos.
The New York Times quoted White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders explaining, “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 news came only hours after Kelly was sworn in as chief of staff. He reportedly called the staff together “to impose a new sense of order and operational discipline that had been absent under his predecessor,” the newspaper reported. The Times also said “the decision to remove him came at Mr. Kelly’s request,” according to unidentified sources.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Page Six reported Friday that Scaramucci’s wife filed for divorce “because of his ‘naked political ambition’,” according to unnamed “multiple sources.” The couple had been married only three years. Here’s how the Page Six story explained it:
“Deidre Ball, who worked as a vice president in investor relations for SkyBridge Capital, the firm he founded in 2005 and sold to ascend to the White House, has filed for divorce from ‘The Mooch’ after three years of marriage after getting fed up with his ruthless quest to get close to President Trump, whom she despises.”—Page Six, July 28
The announcement was flashed by The Drudge Report with a blaring headline “Mooch In, Mooch Out.”
