Less than a fortnight into his tenure as President Donald Trump's communications director, Anthony Scaramucci has been fired.
The decision to can Scaramucci was made by the president's new chief of staff, John Kelly, according to a report by The New York Times:
The decision to remove Mr. Scaramucci, who had boasted about reporting directly to the president not the chief of staff, John F. Kelly, came at Mr. Kelly’s request, the people said. Mr. Kelly made clear to members of the White House staff at a meeting Monday morning that he is in charge.
While it is unclear whether Scaramucci will remain at the White House in another role or if he has been totally fired, there is little question that losing the communications gig is a giant embarrassment for him. The communications director had already garnered bad press for his seemingly unhinged public rants, and his hiring ultimately resulted in the departure of two of Trump's highest profile appointees — his first press secretary Sean Spicer, who left upon learning of Scaramucci's hiring, and his first chief of staff Reince Priebus, who Scaramucci publicly accused of being a leaker with Trump's blessing.
The news also comes at an unpropitious time in Scaramucci's personal life. Shortly after he began his brief tenure as Trump's communications director, it was reported that his wife had filed for divorce (although not, as some reports claimed, due to his political ambitions or relationship with Trump).
This is also not the first powerful Trump position to ultimately prove short-lived for its holder. The president's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was pressured into resigning after only 18 days on the job due to his failure to disclose conversations about Russia with Vice President Mike Pence.
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