Before he was fired, Anthony Scaramucci had a mano a mano talk with President Donald Trump in which the commander in chief told his new communications director he was toast because of his profanity-laced rant in The New Yorker, Trump's former political adviser Sam Nunberg revealed to Newsmax TV.
Gen. John Kelly, in his first act as Trump's new White House chief of staff, canned Scaramucci – known by his nickname "The Mooch" – and had him escorted off the grounds of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
But, as Nunberg told Miranda Khan on Newsmax's "America Talks Live," Scaramucci already had an inkling the ax was dangling over his head because of a private meeting in which Trump bluntly – but apologetically – gave him the news.
"It's my understanding that the president talked to Anthony about this," said Nunberg, an attorney. "He wasn't just summarily dismissed by John Kelly.
"He went to go talk to the president. The president basically said 'look, I apologize, but this isn't going to work out after that Lizza incident.'"
Important: Newsmax TV is available on DirecTV Ch. 349, U-Verse 1220, and FiOS 615. If your cable operator does not have Newsmax TV just call and ask them to put us on – Call toll-free 1-844-500-6397 and we will connect you right away to your cable operator!
For more places to Find Newsmax TV – Click Here Now
Nunberg was referring to Ryan Lizza, a reporter for The New Yorker who bared a conversation in which Scaramucci – who raised more than $35 million for Trump's presidential campaign – trashed then-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon.
"Once you go into that White House, it's a much different setting than working in the campaign," Nunberg said. "Your behavior in a campaign can be a little out of the box, a little feisty.
"But going into the White House, you're representing the country, and you're working in the greatest office in the world, and you have to conduct yourself in a professional manner. This Ryan Lizza interview, I think Anthony would admit this 10 times out of 10 – objectively – you would get fired for it.
"I hope that Anthony is able to keep a relationship with the president. The president has his respect, and the president likes him a lot."
Nunberg said Scaramucci's enthusiastic style worked well at his first public press conference, in which "The Mooch" repeatedly said he loved Trump and would always be upfront with reporters.
"He was a breath of fresh air," Nunberg told Khan. "It was something new. It was something different. It was out of the box. It looked like it was going to work.
"But something I've been through, too, is when you work around Donald Trump – and he's this fantastic character, this man, he has it, he's a superstar – and he brings you in, but something that you have to remember – I had to learn this – is you're not Donald Trump. And Donald Trump can act any way he wants.
"But when you work for him, you work for him, and you're not him. And you're there to serve him and to help him. But he exudes this type of confidence and . . . he makes you think you're the only person in the world . . . It's fun, and it's a difficult proposition. It's very hard to adapt to."
And with his jaw-dropping comments to The New Yorker, Scaramucci sealed his own fate, according to Nunberg.
"At the end of the day this was really a tragedy because . . . that Ryan Lizza interview he did was a big problem, and I think he would admit he made a mistake there," Nunberg said. "It was certainly out of the norm.
"But the real tragedy here I think is with Anthony and Reince, who were fighting since around the transition. Reince made a point of keeping Anthony outside of the administration, which by the way strategically was a mistake. It's a life lesson, I learned . . . You want to keep your enemies closer, not out."
He said Scaramucci would have been a good change from the traditional Republican way of doing things.
"We have a president who is a first citizen president," Nunberg said. "He's certainly our first celebrity president. He's a mogul. He's a magnet. He's different. And the kind of just button-up type skills you're going to get from the RNC [Republican National Committee] were never really going to work . . . It's cost the president, I believe, approval ratings.
"Before Anthony took this position, let's remember they couldn't even have on-camera briefings anymore. What White House in modern day America can't have on-camera briefings? . . . Anthony screwed up.
"But Anthony will be fine out of this. Anthony is going to be successful in whatever Anthony does."