White House Press Secretary and former Bush Administration Easter Bunny Sean Spicer resigned this morning, six months after jump-starting actress Melissa McCarthy's comedy career.
Spicer, who assumed most of the duties of White House Communications Director when Mike Dubke flamed out after three months, quit in protest over the appointment of a 53-year-old liberal GOP hedge fund billionaire as new communications chief today.
Six months after losing a White House job over Christianist objections he wasn't anti-gay enough, Anthony Scaramucci has landed an even bigger fish in the Trump West Wing.
Axios broke the story today. Subequent news confirmed that Scaramucci is in, but- surprisingly- that Spicer is out:
President Trump is expected to announce that Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci will be White House communications director, according to two sources familiar with the planning.
Trump has left the role open since Mike Dubke resigned in May, and the President has vented frequently to his friends about the performance of his press operation.
Trump's plans to appoint Scaramucci came as a surprise to Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who found out after the plans had already been made.
"Mooch," as he's known to friends, is a major Republican donor who supported Trump during the general election campaign — after fundraising during the primaries for Scott Walker and Jeb Bush. He frequently appears on Fox News and is a longtime friend of Sean Hannity.
Scaramucci recently sold his stake in his hedge fund, SkyBridge Capital, but was left stranded after an initially planned job in the White House didn't materialize.
Scaramucci is currently working at the Export-Import Bank but he's expected to leave that administration post to take the communications director job. Spicer has been handling the communications director's duties since Dubke left. The President has frequently disparaged Spicer's performance to friends and associates, but he does that with many of his staff. He also says Spicer is a "nice guy," who gets unfairly beaten up by the press. Spicer is expected to stay on, though it's unclear how his responsibilities will fit alongside Scaramucci's.
The appointment is a clear slap at White House Chief of Staff Priebus in the never-ending West Wing power struggles. In February, The New York Times reported,
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon informed Scaramucci on Wednesday he wouldn't get the job, but told him they would find another role for him in the administration in the future.
Scaramucci was originally slated to lead the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, but the job went instead to another candidate, George Sifakis, among whose deputies is Andrew Giuliani, the 31-year-old son of the former New York mayor (by the second of his three wives) and a failed professional golfer.
The Public Liaison Office was the locus for LGBT-outreach efforts in the Obama administration, which made Scaramucci a logical fit. He is also a supporter of the GOP-loathed Human Rights Campaign, and was a vocal opponent of North Carolina's discriminatory HB2.
In January, a leading religious freedom discrimination advocate, LifeSite News, went after Scaramucci:
January 13, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — Anthony Scaramucci, who describes himself as a committed “gay rights activist,” has been picked for a top job advising President-elect Trump that is comparable to Valerie Jarrett’s preeminent role in the Obama White House, The Washington Post reported Friday.
As LifeSiteNews previous reported, Scaramucci told BBC in November: “I’m … a gay rights activist. … I’ve given to the [pro-“gay” Republican] American Unity PAC ... to the Human Rights Campaign, I’m for … marriage equality.”
“We don’t want to be on the wrong side of history,” Scaramucci told the Huffington Post last April, explaining why his investment company, Skybridge Capital, gives to LGBT groups. Scaramucci, a 2012 Mitt Romney mega-donor, last year invited “transgender” activist Bruce (“Caitlyn) Jenner to speak at his annual SALT conference, which he describes as a “premier thought leadership and global investment forum” for fellow hedge-fund investors...
Scaramucci, a former Fox Business Channel show host and Trump transition economic adviser, garnered anti-LGBT groups' ire as soon as Trump's election was known:
In an interview with BBC HARDtalk, Rolling Stone reported, Scaramucci said, "Elton John is going to be doing our concert on the mall for the inauguration." He added that Trump will be the "first American president in U.S. history that enters the White House with a pro-gay-rights stance."
The British singer slapped down the former report, and the President's cabinet appointments have laid waste to the latter.
True Trumpists will find outrage aplenty in Scaramucci's squishy past. He has no experience in the political messaging arena, and has also been a pat campaign fundraiser for 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, as well as 2016 Trump punching bags Scott Walker and Jeb Bush. He's pro-choice, too.
Whether Scaramuccci will be a vocal advocate for his views, or will go along with the President's silence on gay rights as his department heads demolishes them, remains to be seen.
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