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Scaramucci Out As White House Communications Director

Anthony Scaramucci is out as White House communications director, 10 days after being named to the position.
Chip Somodevilla
/
Getty Images
Anthony Scaramucci is out as White House communications director, 10 days after being named to the position.

Updated at 5 p.m. ET

Anthony Scaramucci is leaving his position as White House communications director — less than two weeks after being named for the job.

Scaramucci's departure followed the Monday-morning swearing in of the new White House chief of staff, retired Gen. John F. Kelly. Scaramucci had negotiated an unusual deal to report directly to the president rather than the chief of staff (Reince Priebus at the time).

"Mr. Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team," a statement from White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. "We wish him all the best."

Monday afternoon, Huckabee Sanders told reporters she would not elaborate on whether Scaramucci was fired or willingly resigned, but she said the former Wall Street financier would not retain another role on the White House staff "at this time."

Last week, Scaramucci unleashed a vulgar diatribe in an interview with The New Yorker, in which he slammed his most senior colleagues and put a spotlight on the warring power centers within the White House.

President Trump initially appeared to support Scaramucci's brash style. But, when asked Monday, Huckabee Sanders said, "The president certainly felt that Anthony's comments were inappropriate for a person in that position."

Scaramucci had been named to lead the White House communications team on July 21. His West Wing arrival led to the resignation of White House press secretary Sean Spicer and the removal of chief of staff Reince Priebus.

Huckabee Sanders said that no additional West Wing staffing changes are expected and clarified that Kelly, as the new White House chief of staff, "has the full authority to operate in the White House and all staff will report to him."

She said the new chain of command includes chief strategist Steven Bannon, as well as Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner — the president's daughter and son-in-law — who serve as top advisers to the president.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Geoff Bennett is a White House reporter for NPR. He previously covered Capitol Hill and national politics for NY1 News in New York City and more than a dozen other Time Warner-owned cable news stations across the country. Prior to that role, he was an editor with NPR's Weekend Edition. Geoff regularly guest hosts C-SPAN's Washington Journal — a live, three-hour news and public affairs program. He began his journalism career at ABC News in New York after graduating from Morehouse College.