You are here

There Was No Good Reason To Fire "The Mooch" After Just Ten Days

Authored by Duane Norman via Free Market Shooter blog,

On July 21st, Anthony Scaramucci, affectionately known as “The Mooch” by the media (and everyone else), was hired to be President Trump’s White House Communications Director.  His short tenure consisted of the following:

  • The resignation of Sean Spicer
  • The relentless attack of “leakers” within the Trump Administration
  • Attacks on White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus for “leaking” information
  • A published article of a rant by Scaramucci in regards to Priebus
  • The firing of Priebus shortly after the rant was leaked
  • The hiring of General John Kelly to replace Reince Priebus
  • The termination of the Mooch by President Trump

Hated by some, loved by others, the Mooch’s short tenure was filled with one-liners targeting “leakers” within the administration.  And no matter how you feel about The Mooch, his brash style alone was no reason to fire him after just ten days on the job.

Fox News, the one mainstream media outlet you would expect to defend Trump, attacked his decision to hire the Mooch, not realizing the unintended benefit of having him on the staff:

Scaramucci’s brief tenure as communications director showed him to be unfit for that role. He is a self-described “diva” with a reputation as a grandstander who, as the New York Times put it, “rivals Mr. Trump’s own outsize knack for self-promotion.”

 

It’s time the grown-ups in the room acknowledged what an invaluable role Priebus and the Republican National Committee played in electing Donald Trump.

 

While the president likes to portray his win as a singular personal victory, in reality the party committee helped even the odds between the skeleton Trump crew and the massive Clinton machine.

 

Priebus, who is mild mannered and humble, earned his spot in the White House by being loyal to the campaign, and also by resuscitating over six years an undernourished RNC that finally caught up with the rival DNC.

Scaramucci’s attitude was perfect for taking the pressure off President Trump for his own brash attitude, allowing Scaramucci to succeed in the “punching bag” role that Sean Spicer once held… which is surprisingly not acknowledged by Fox.  Even worse, they chose to heap praise upon Priebus, instead of focusing on the fact that he was indeed a White House leaker who appeared far more loyal to the RNC than he ever was to Trump.

Speaking of leaks, Fox (and many other outlets) refuse to acknowledge the fact that the Mooch’s rant was a “leak” in and of itself; it was supposed to be an “off the record” conversation that was instead made public by The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza.  The Mooch stated this himself:

Oh, you think this is the first time Lizza has done this?  A Gotnews article will quickly show you that you would be very mistaken; Lizza has a lengthy history of leaking confidential discussions with his “sources”:

In February 2016, Lizza taunted a Bernie Sanders aide who had counted on Lizza’s own discrection—polling Twitter about whether or not he should keep the conversation off-record.

In March, The New Yorker and Lizza broke a story by openly violating Rep. King‘s request not to be quoted directly.

In his March article, Lizza asked that readers set “aside the issue of whether it was appropriate for King to allow this piece of classified information to become public”—even as Lizza published part of a conversation his source explicitly requested be kept off-record.

Plenty of people (including President Trump himself) use colorful language like the Mooch did in their day to day “off the record” lives.  Many Americans likely found it quite refreshing to know that someone in the White House was prepared to use harsh language in an off the record manner to discuss someone who has been leaking (possibly classified) information to the media.

Of course, the mainstream media will have you believe that the Mooch’s conversation was indeed on the record, in spite of his assertations to the contrary, and the leaking reporter’s history of abusing and mistreating his “off the record” conversations with his sources.  Go figure.

There were several deeper reasons “leaked” for the Mooch’s termination, which are at least legitimate reasons to end his tenure, including General Kelly’s “tightening” of control over the White House in his new role…

John F. Kelly, President Trump’s new chief of staff, firmly asserted his authority on his first day in the White House on Monday, telling aides he will impose military discipline on a free-for-all West Wing, and he underscored his intent by firing Anthony Scaramucci, the bombastic communications director, 10 days after he was hired.

…and the suggestion that the Mooch’s only job role was to force Priebus out:

Multiple reports have surfaced saying former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci was only hired to get rid of former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Scaramucci was removed from his position Monday, after 10 days on the job. The dismissal came alongside reports that White House senior advisor Jared Kushner and President Trump’s daughter Ivanka influenced the president to bring in Scaramucci, primarily to take out Priebus.

Whether or not one or both of these is true, firing the Mooch immediately following his leaked “outburst” and only ten days into the job paints the picture of a White House in dysfunction, which is precisely the angle mainstream media is trying to highlight.  It is also precisely the thing that the administration should be trying to avoid, and by firing the Mooch so quickly, they have instead played right into the mainstream media’s hand.

If Kelly was so quick to “take control” of his staff, the Mooch could have been forced to cut his public briefings, had his role mitigated by Trump, and then been quietly removed and/or forced to resign after more time had passed than just ten days.  If he was hired solely to remove Priebus, the same scenario could have been borne out, with some public acknowledgment that he would be reduced to a “lesser” role in the wake of Priebus’s departure.  At the end of the day, the Mooch’s dismissal was just as haphazard as his tenure, and whether you think he deserved to stay in the job or not, the Trump administration should have waited more than ten days to dismiss him.

Even if his “off the record” mouth was too much for General Kelly, President Trump, or anyone else in the administration, firing the Mooch after just ten days was a poor decision, especially when he could have been so easily “silenced” and quietly removed at a later date.  

Author’s note:  Do I think the Mooch deserved to stay on the job?  With one liners like “I’ll bring a box of Kleenex over here to CNN” when Trump wins in 2020, how could you not want to keep this guy around?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwDcuAs6dbA

He was the White House Communications Director we’ve all been waiting our whole lives for, and his brief tenure was far too short.  You will be missed, Mooch… at least by this guy, you will. 

Source
Politics
Trump administration
White House