Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher and got into a heated discussion with David Frum, the former speechwriter for president George W. Bush.
Scaramucci, known as the Mooch, started out the program by joking about his short-lived position in Donald Trump‘s administration. “If you could redo one thing during your time at the White House, what would it be?” Maher asked. “The Ryan Lizza call, I probably wouldn’t have had that one,” Scaramucci responded.
In a phone interview with then-New Yorker reporter Lizza, Scaramucci vented about White House officials, including Steve Bannon. “I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own c–k,” he said in the interview. Scaramucci only held his position as communications director for 11 days.
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!
A week of political news in your in-box.
We find the news you need to know, so you don't have to.
The segment on Real Time became contentious when Frum asked Scaramucci about a business deal he had made before taking the job for Trump. “I have a question for you,” Frum began. “Before you went into government, you received an enormous offer from a Chinese group, for the purchase of your company, $90 million, and after you came out the purchasers lost interest. How am I to understand that?”
Scaramucci responded by saying that his wording was “factually inaccurate,” at which point Maher attempted to end the discussion. “It’s a set-up question,” Scaramucci said. “He’s trying to suggest that they were buying into the lobbying. I curse a lot but I don’t curse on TV, but that’s B.S.,” he added.
Maher again tried to defuse the situation by joking about previous times Scaramucci has cursed publicly, but he brought it up again. “Why are we going back to this? I see why you and Trump get along,” Maher said.
After the show, though, is when Frum and Scaramucci really butted heads. “Your anger toward Trump is clouding your judgment, by the way,” Scaramucci said to Frum during Real Time‘s online-only Overtime segment. “A good anger management class would help you think a little more clearly.”
“Don’t let anger cloud your judgment — but don’t let your ambitions also cloud your judgment,” Frum responded.
“What does that even mean though?” asked Scaramucci. “You talking about my ambition? I’d already lived a great life. I went in there to try to serve the country and help the middle and lower-class people that are struggling in this country. You gotta wake up, brother. You’re living in an ivory tower. You gotta snap out of it. Drop the anger,” he said before suggesting Frum take a suppository.
“I’m not a weak guy,” said Frum.
“You’re mean, and you’re angry,” Scaramucci replied.
Since his break from the White House, Scaramucci has launched his own news site, The Scaramucci Post. Frum is a MSNBC contributor and a senior politics editor for The Atlantic.
https://youtube.com/shorts/YVrfbMZSVRE?feature=share US President-elect Donald Trump drew cheers as he arrived in Texas on Nov. 19 to watch…
After President-elect Donald Trump selected Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, as his nominee for…
President-elect Donald Trump's announcement that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be his pick for Department…
https://youtube.com/shorts/6CUvTmS87UM?feature=share President-elect Donald Trump arrived to cheers at an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event in…
President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) as his attorney general has sent shockwaves through…
https://youtube.com/shorts/TD8RNJl-NBk A fight broke out in one of the stands at the Stade de France…