Scaramucci: If It Were Up To Me, Bannon Would Be Gone

Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks to members of the media in the Brady Press Briefing room of the White House in Washington, Friday, July 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
New White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci speaks to members of the media in the Brady Press Briefing room of the White House in Washington, Friday, July 21, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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Just a few weeks out from his short 10-day tenure as White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci is still vocalizing his obsession with tracking down “leakers” in the White House.

Appearing on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Monday, he touched on his fallout with former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and said he thinks Chief Strategist Steve Bannon’s tenure is coming to an end.

“The weird thing about my relationship with Reince is we were actually pretty good friends when I was a political donor writing checks to the RNC, but once I became part of the administration or was about to enter the administration, for whatever reasons, it was a little more adversarial,” he said, saying he thought Priebus was one of the leakers Scaramucci was obsessed with uncovering during his time at the White House.

Colbert asked who is leaking now that Preibus is gone.

“Is it Bannon?” he asked.

“Well, I’ve said it before, I’ve been pretty open about that. … I said he was. I obviously got caught on tape saying he was, so I have no problem saying that,” Scaramucci said, referencing the profanity-laced interview he gave The New Yorker, in which he attacked Bannon for trying to “build (his) own brand off the fucking strength of the President.”

“Is he going to be gone in a week?” Colbert asked, which Scaramucci deflected, saying it was “up to the President.”

“But what do you think? What does the Mooch thing?” Colbert asked, which was met with “Mooch” chants from the audience.

“If it was up to me, he would be gone. But it’s not up to me,” Scaramucci said.

His criticism comes after The New York Times reported Bannon’s job is in limbo with new Chief of Staff John Kelly making his displeasure with Bannon clear. The President also reportedly had a private dinner at the White House with 21st Century Fox chief Rupert Murdoch, who reportedly urged Trump to fire Bannon.

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