Newly-appointed White House Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly fired Anthony Scaramucci on Monday morning, according to multiple media reports. Scaramucci, who had spent just ten days on the job, had been mired in negative publicity after he went on a profanity-laden rant blasting top White House officials.
Scaramucci, a former Wall Street financier, was brought in to replace Sean Spicer. The shake-up eventually led to the firing of former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. Upon taking over the reins from Priebus, John Kelly made it clear that he was in charge and that he wasn't afraid to "tame chaos" in the Trump administration.
The Washington Post and the New York Times have confirmed the move.
Kelly takes decisive action on his first day on the job
The firing of Scaramucci was the first major decision made by Kelly, who officially took over for Priebus on Monday morning. The departure of the embattled Communications Director was so swift that Scaramucci never had a chance to be officially sworn in.
In a Monday afternoon statement, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that “Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team.”
The magazine article that led to Scaramucci's downfall
The firing of Scaramucci appeared imminent after The New Yorker published an article by Ryan Lizza in which Scaramucci ruthlessly bashed President Trump's top aides, believing that they were the source of damaging leaks.
Scaramucci later apologized for the profane remarks, which he believed were made "off the record." After Lizza's piece was published, Scaramucci expressed regret for trusting the reporter and vowed that it would never happen again.
After Scaramucci had been appointed White House Communications Director, a wave of damaging stories appeared in the press.
The New Yorker article asserts that Scaramucci blamed Reince Priebus for most of them. “Reince is a f***ing paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac,” ranted Scaramucci to Lizza. Those comments led to the firing of Priebus, who was replaced by Gen. John Kelly late last week.
Gen. John Kelly earned the admiration of President Trump as the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). "John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security,” Trump stated on Twitter after the announcement was made. “He has been a true star of my Administration.”
