NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

'He's lost his mind': Former Trump staffer Anthony Scaramucci urges Republican Party to replace him for 2020 election

By Sam Clench
news.com.au·
15 Aug, 2019 07:05 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

US President Donald Trump. Photo / AP

US President Donald Trump. Photo / AP

Anthony Scaramucci has undergone quite the evolution.

The man famous for being spectacularly fired just 11 days into his job as White House communications director in 2017 has since transformed from a staunch defender of President Donald Trump into one of his highest profile critics.

This week, Scaramucci finally reached the position he had been approaching, slowly but surely, for some time: "He's got to go."

He called for the Republican Party to consider replacing Mr Trump with a different nominee for next year's presidential election.

"I'm calling for it to be considered, yes. I think you have to consider a change at the top of the ticket when someone is acting like this," Mr Scaramucci told CNN host John Berman.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The guy's actually dissembling a little bit, and he's sounding more and more nonsensical."

He did not name a potential replacement for Trump, instead saying the party should "watch how this unfolds".

Anthony Scaramucci served as Mr Trump's communications director for 11 days. Photo / AP
Anthony Scaramucci served as Mr Trump's communications director for 11 days. Photo / AP

Scaramucci was backed up by former Republican congressman Joe Walsh, who wrote a piece for The New York Times arguing in favour of a primary challenge, despite the fact that he himself voted for Trump in 2016.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Mr Trump is unfit for office. His lies are so numerous, from his absurd claim that tariffs are 'paid for mostly by China, by the way, not by us' to his prevarication about his crowd sizes, he can't be trusted," Walsh said.

"In Mr Trump, I see the worst and ugliest iteration of views I expressed for the better part of a decade.

"Republicans should view Mr Trump as the liability that he is.

"We need someone who could stand up, look the President in the eye and say: 'Enough, sir. We've had enough of your indecency. We've had enough of your lies, your bullying, your cruelty, enough of your insults, your daily drama, your incitement, enough of the danger you place this country in every single day. We don't want any of this anymore.'"

Discover more

World

The weird lie Donald Trump has repeated more than 80 times

14 Aug 05:00 PM
Entertainment

Trump card: Kiwi takes on president over copyright

17 Aug 05:00 PM
World

What if UK Parliament voted out Boris Johnson, but he refused to go?

14 Aug 09:50 PM
World

Outrage as US politician says humanity might not exist if not for rape and incest

14 Aug 10:35 PM

But kicking Trump off the Republican ticket would be no easy task. First, it would require a credible challenger — and at the moment, there isn't one.

The only other person running for the Republican nomination is former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld. He has raised less than $1 million so far, compared to Trump's $124 million, and has been described as "the worst possible Trump challenger".

That tells you pretty much everything you need to know.

The other obstacle is Trump's continuing popularity among Republican voters, who would make the decision in any potential primary contest.

Trump's approval rating has been stuck in the forties for essentially the entire duration of his presidency, but it tends to hover in the eighties with Republican voters. They like him and have no intention of dumping him for the election.

Nevertheless, Scaramucci has been on something of a tear this week, appearing repeatedly in the media to discuss his newly announced opposition to Trump's re-election.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We are now in the early episodes of Chernobyl on HBO, where the reactor is melting down the apparatchiks are trying to figure out whether to cover it up or start the clean-up process," he told Axios, referring to Republican officials.

"A couple more weeks like this and 'country over party' is going to require Republicans to replace the top of the ticket in 2020. We can't afford a full nuclear contamination site post-2020."

Back on CNN yesterday, Scaramucci claimed members of Trump's own Cabinet had told him they thought the President was losing it.

"I talked to three Cabinet officials last night who think the guy has lost his mind. The dam is about to start breaking with folks coming forward. I'm just the tip of the iceberg," he told host Erin Burnett.

"He's obviously going off the rails now. He's totally unstable, a nervous wreck last night, sweating like a pig. Let's just call it for what it is. He's got to go."

Scaramucci's attacks are all the more remarkable because he remained a reliable ally for Trump long after his tumultuous departure from the White House in 2017, persistently defending the President on television.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But he has become progressively more critical this year, first publicly denouncing Trump's attacks on the media and then suggesting he "dial down the lying".

The President doesn't like it one bit.

Trump has responded to Scaramucci by claiming the former communications director is bitter because he has not been given another job in the administration.

"He's called so much. He's a nervous, neurotic wreck," Trump said.

"He called so much, and I said 'Anthony, I'm sorry, I can't do that, I can't take you in,' and I said, 'You gotta stop all these phone calls, too many calls Anthony.'"

Scaramucci said the President's words were "blatant lies".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Anthony Scaramucci, who was quickly terminated (11 days) from a position that he was totally incapable of handling, now seems to do nothing but television as the all time expert on “President Trump.” Like many other so-called television experts, he knows very little about me.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 11, 2019

Scaramucci, who like so many others had nothing to do with my Election victory, is only upset that I didn’t want him back in the Administration (where he desperately wanted to be). Also, I seldom had time to return his many calls to me. He just wanted to be on TV!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2019

The official White House response suggested Scaramucci was "embarrassing" himself.

"He worked at the White House for less than two weeks and is certainly no expert on this President," press secretary Stephanie Grisham said.

"This is all self-serving on his part and the media plays right into it. It's embarrassing to watch."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

UK boosts fighter jet presence in Middle East amid Israel-Iran tensions

15 Jun 09:31 AM
World

'Crossed a new red line': Iran condemns Israeli nuclear site attacks

15 Jun 08:34 AM
World

Israeli cities struck by Iranian missiles, 10 dead, many injured

15 Jun 06:24 AM

The woman behind NZ’s first PAK’nSAVE

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

UK boosts fighter jet presence in Middle East amid Israel-Iran tensions

UK boosts fighter jet presence in Middle East amid Israel-Iran tensions

15 Jun 09:31 AM

Keir Starmer announced the move as he headed to Canada for G7 talks.

'Crossed a new red line': Iran condemns Israeli nuclear site attacks

'Crossed a new red line': Iran condemns Israeli nuclear site attacks

15 Jun 08:34 AM
Israeli cities struck by Iranian missiles, 10 dead, many injured

Israeli cities struck by Iranian missiles, 10 dead, many injured

15 Jun 06:24 AM
'Discarded': Mass grave excavation uncovers Ireland's dark history of child burials

'Discarded': Mass grave excavation uncovers Ireland's dark history of child burials

15 Jun 04:48 AM
How one volunteer makes people feel seen
sponsored

How one volunteer makes people feel seen

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP