He may have lasted just 11 days as White House communications director, but Anthony Scaramucci still has a lot to say about U.S. President Donald Trump, those around him, and a new book that paints a picture of a highly dysfunctional administration.
Scaramucci, who made headlines during his brief tenure last summer for his brash style and unscripted, colourful language, for ripping apart former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon and for blowing a kiss to reporters at the end of his first press conference, sat down for an interview with CTVâs Your Morning Friday from the New York office of his investment firm.
He says recent book âFire and Furyâ by journalist Michael Wolff should be called âLiar and Furiousâ and says Wolff is a âcomplete liarâ fed by insiders only out for themselves.
He says the Trump White House is like the 1977 Yankees, who all hated each other but managed to win championships together.
âMy attitude is, letâs put the fun in dysfunctionality,â he said. âBut you had some guys inside the White House, the guys that helped this guy Wolff write âLiar and Furious.â You know, they were bad guys. They were out for themselves. They didnât really care about the president or his agenda.â
Scaramucci, who was fired over an expletive-filled talk with a reporter ripping apart others in the administration, dismissed any idea that Trump is mentally unfit for the job, as alleged by Wolff and others.
âHeâs not only sane and totally together, heâs a stable genius. We both know that, right?â he said, alluding to Trumpâs infamous tweet. âHereâs the thing for your Canadian viewers: when he tweets out that heâs a stable genius, Iâm laughing. Donald J. Trump Jr. is laughing, OK. We get the joke.â
Trump uses Twitter as direct messaging to his supporters, says Scaramucci. On the campaign trail, Trump would see his tweets being discussed on mainstream TV news.
âIs that presidential?â Scaramucci said Trump would ask his team. When the answer was no, he would respond: âWell listen, if Iâm going to be presidential, then Iâm not going to win the presidency.â
Scaramucci also denied that Trump is a racist.
âIâve seen him in action. He treats everybody the same. Now, you might not like the way heâs treating you but heâs not treating you based on your family of origin or your religious creed, heâs just treating you plain and simple fairly.â
He says the allegations come from those using the politics of division and who âattack the president personally because heâs getting a lot right on policy.â
Trump is an easy target because âstylistically, he says some rough and tumble things that people are not going to like.â
Scaramucci says he remains close to Trump and his family and did not take his firing personally. He doesnât reject the idea of going back to the White House but says he probably doesnât fit in to chief of staff John Kellyâs âmilitarized structure.â
âIf I got offered a job I thought I could do a good job at, of course I would consider it. My wife would probably kill me, so Iâve got to be careful about that. But at the end of the day, maybe, but who knows.â