Anthony Scaramucci outburst prompts huge reaction on social media

Martin Farrer
Updated
White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci: ‘Kill all the leakers.’
White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci: ‘Kill all the leakers.’ Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters

Anthony Scaramucci’s foul-mouthed rant against his White House colleagues has provided a field day for wags and wits on social media.

Donald Trump’s new communications chief unleashed a barrage of invective at Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon during an interview with the New Yorker, with the chief of staff described as a “paranoid fucking schizophrenic” and the chief strategist accused of being rather too fond of himself. He also said he wanted to “kill all the leakers”.

Amid the political knockabout, there were also plenty of observers making the point that the remarks exposed starkly the divisions in the White House and could weaken or “degrade” the presidency.

But let’s start with David Axelrod, the former Obama adviser, who hoped that the former Wall Street banker would be kept away from the Boy Scouts. Others made hay with the colourful language used by the man who likes to be known as “The Mooch”.

The man himself issued a fairly prompt half-apology for his comments, which lifted the lid on the White House’s warring factions and appeared to undermine Scaramucci’s avowed efforts to limit the damaging stories about splits and disagreements in the administration. And after Ryan Lizza gratefully wrote up his remarks for the New Yorker story, Scaramucci also said he would not trust a reporter again.

Scaramucci comes across like Gordon Gekko, with pinstripe suits and mirror sunglasses, and his managerial style does appear to be straight out of the Wall Street playbook – a fact not missed on social media.

One member of staff who was reportedly unperturbed by the outburst was Bannon.

But there is a serious element to some of the commentary. Former ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, urged the administration officials to “just stop” because it was bringing shame on America. And there were also plenty of suggestions that the chaos in the White House would further weaken the administration as it tries to deal with a range of foreign policy issues.

The case for the defence is that he just let his passion get the best of him (Sarah Huckabee Sanders).

The New York Times has tweeted that the editorial chiefs had a discussion to decide whether it was “proper” to publish Scaramucci’s profanities. They did.

Meanwhile, Breitbart hits back.

A last word.

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