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Trump is 'unhinged' over Bloomberg, former aide claims

Anthony Scaramucci turned against the president after being sacked just 11 days into his White House role

Graig Graziosi
Washington DC
Monday 17 February 2020 18:58 EST
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Anthony Scaramucci calls Trump a lawless criminal: ‘If he is removed it would be like Fourth of July’

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Former White House aide Anthony Scaramucci – who famously served only 11 days before being fired – has claimed that Donald Trump is “unhinged” over former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

“Awwww it’s getting around. @realDonaldTrump is unhinged about @MikeBloomberg,” Mr Scaramucci tweeted.

His feelings regarding Mr Trump changed following his short-term stint at the White House. Now, Mr Scaramucci appears to support Mr Bloomberg, who he believes will “trounce” Mr Trump in a general election.

It’s not surprising Mr Scaramucci supports Mr Bloomberg. He comes from the same world as both Mr Trump and Mr Bloomberg; he formerly worked as a financier for Goldman Sachs in New York City and went on to found capital investment and management firms.

Mr Scaramucci claims his change of was due to Mr Trump’s “divisive rhetoric”.

The former communications director was once a staple on Fox News and used to lavish praise on the president, predicting the president would “get a win in healthcare” because “the president has really good karma”.

The former White House aide has backed Mr Bloomberg since at least November, when he told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that Mr Trump would be intimidated by him.

“I think the president would be very intimidated by a guy like Michael Bloomberg,” Mr Scaramucci said. “He’s a New Yorker. He could stand the onslaught of the president’s bullying. He’s worth probably five to eight times the president’s net worth. He could spend a fortune defending himself and getting ads up in all areas of the country.”

While Mr Scaramucci has been very vocal in his support of Mr Bloomberg, he has not commented on any of his many controversies, including the candidate’s long history of misogynist comments, his use of non-disclosure agreements to silence women in the workplace who claim he fostered a hostile work environment, for overseeing Stop and Frisk and suggesting that a lack of redlining caused the 2008 financial crisis.

Regardless of Mr Scaramucci’s political loyalties, he hasn’t had a terribly impressive record when it comes to predictions.

In October, he told Variety that Mr Trump was “unravelling” and that he predicted at some point Mitch McConnell would turn on him.

“In the next three to six weeks, there will be more damning information related to the president,” Mr Scaramucci predicted last October. “He’s aware of it. I believe that McConnell will eventually go to him and say ‘Hey man. You’ve gotta take one for the team ... you’ve gotta go back.’ He’ll probably end up back at Mar-a-Lago or something.”

Quite the contrary: Mr McConnell remained absolutely loyal to Mr Trump throughout the president’s impeachment.

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