Washington: Donald Trump’s new communications director has launched an extraordinary, foul-mouthed tirade against two senior colleagues, raising the prospect of all-out civil war at the White House.
Anthony Scaramucci told an interviewer that Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is “a [expletive] paranoid schizophrenic” who will be asked to resign, and that Scaramucci is not like Steve Bannon, the chief strategist, because “I’m not trying to suck my own [expletive]”.
The profane language was shocking even by the standards of the Trump era and suggested that a major staff shake-up is imminent.
New Yorker correspondent Ryan Lizza wrote that Scaramucci called him on Wednesday night, angry that Lizza had tweeted that the communications director was having dinner at the White House with Trump; his wife, Melania; Fox News host Sean Hannity; and former Fox News executive Bill Shine.
“Who leaked that to you?” Scaramucci demanded, according to Lizza’s account.
When the journalist refused to disclose his source, Scaramucci allegedly threatened: “What I’m going to do is, I will eliminate everyone in the comms team and we’ll start over.”
He is quoted as saying: “I ask these guys not to leak anything, and they can’t help themselves. You’re an American citizen, this is a major catastrophe for the American country. So I’m asking you as an American patriot to give me a sense of who leaked it.”
According to Lizza, Scaramucci believed the fact that the dinner had been exposed was evidence that his rivals, and Priebus in particular, were conspiring against him.
As they discussed the matter further, Lizza writes, Scaramucci “was getting more and more worked up, and he eventually convinced himself that Priebus was my source”.
‘The Mooch’, as he is known, said: “They’ll all be fired by me. 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.”
Scaramucci said he told Trump that he expected Priebus to launch a campaign against him, Lizza writes.
Scaramucci believed Priebus had been disturbed by the dinner because he was not invited.
“Reince is a [expletive] paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac,” he is quoted as saying.
Scaramucci has reportedly long blamed Priebus for keeping him out of the White House when Trump took office in January, despite his loyalty to the Trump campaign.
On Thursday night Scaramucci did not apologise, but promised not to use swear words again in his new job.
In a Twitter message after the article appeared online, Scaramucci said: “I sometimes use colourful language. I will refrain in this arena but not give up the passionate fight for @realDonaldTrump’s agenda.”
Asked about the article, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the administration was focused on health care and other items. “I don’t have anything else to add,” she said.
Priebus and Bannon had no comment.
The drama was the latest sign of disarray within the Trump White House even as it tries to advance health care and tax reform legislation. The president himself is preoccupied with an investigation into Russian meddling into last year’s presidential election and has been fiercely critical in recent days of his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions.
The scathing remarks by Scaramucci came as he and other Trump loyalists ratcheted up pressure on Priebus, a former Republican National Committee chairman, who does not have years-long ties with Trump.
There has been speculation that Priebus, who steered the party apparatus behind Trump’s unorthodox candidacy in last year’s election, is on his way out because Trump has no major legislative achievements in his first six months in office.
Earlier in the day, Sanders would not say whether Trump had confidence in Priebus.
“We all serve at the pleasure of the president and if it gets to a place where that isn’t the place, he’ll let you know,” Sanders told reporters.
She added that Trump “hires the very best people” who are not always going to agree and that he supports “healthy competition, and with that competition you usually get the best results.”
Priebus was silent on the broadside from Scaramucci, whom Priebus had sought to block from a White House job, according to officials. Priebus’ allies said Trump’s hiring of Scaramucci, which prompted press secretary Sean Spicer to resign, was a bad omen for Priebus.
US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan defended Priebus on Thursday. The two men, both from Wisconsin, are close.
“Reince is doing a fantastic job at the White House and I believe he has the president’s confidence. If those two gentlemen have differences, my advice would be to sit down and settle your differences,” Ryan told a news conference.
Trump allies saw the drama playing out as a sign that the group of original Trump supporters was growing weary of Priebus and the RNC faction he brought with him.
“There is a widespread feeling among Trump supporters that he’s never been a real supporter of Donald Trump and that he isn’t playing to win on the president’s behalf,” said an outside Trump adviser. “After six months of this, time is up.”
