Anthony Scaramucci calls Trump ‘American Mussolini’ after return to WH

'He is a uniter,' Scaramucci told CNN's Chris Cuomo. 'He is uniting all of us against him.'

Oct 6, 2020

Speaking to Chris Cuomo on CNN Monday night, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci compared President Donald Trump to fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

“You’ve got, you know, I don’t know, the American Mussolini standing on the balcony,” Scaramucci said, opining on Trump’s photo op upon his return to the White House from Walter Reed National Medical Center. “We’ve never had a president stand on that balcony and do what he just did.”

In this Oct. 2019 photo, Anthony Scaramucci speaks onstage during “The Impeachment Will Be Televised” at Vanity Fair’s 6th Annual New Establishment Summit in Beverly Hills. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

“What about the people who are helping him?” Scaramucci asked. “A demagogue can only be powerful if they have willing accomplices.” He specifically called out Republican senators Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, who he says “swore an oath to the Constitution to the United States and to protect the American citizens.”

“We have to beat him, Chris,” he continued. “He is a uniter. He is uniting all of us against him.”

Scaramucci was in his role as White House communications director for only 10 days but maintains he still has relationships within the Trump administration. He implied that morale is low inside the White House.

A former staunch supporter of the president, Scaramucci said that he is actively campaigning against Trump in many local markets. He said the president’s recent behavior is because he “knows he’s going to lose.”

Scaramucci is one of a handful of ex-Trump staffers, including former national security advisor John Bolton and former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen, who now publicly speak out against his reelection. The three have also written books about Trump.

The financier was preceded as communications director by Sean Spicer in 2017 and followed by Hope Hicks, who left the role but remains a senior aide to the president. Hicks was one of the first Trump staffers to exhibit coronavirus symptoms in the breakout at the White House that has infected a dozen staffers.

In previous interviews, Scaramucci has said that the president should step down following his diagnosis.

“He’s lied about the science for six months, couldn’t protect himself or his family,” he noted, “so how is he going to protect the American people going forward?”

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