Anthony Scaramucci turns Mooch on "Real Time With Bill Maher"

Scaramucci said he doesn't swear on TV and got in a heated argument with David Frum.

By Nicole Karlis

Senior Writer

Published February 3, 2018 1:15PM (EST)

Anthony Scaramucci   (AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Anthony Scaramucci (AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Anthony Scaramucci, who lasted a total of eleven days as Donald Trump's White House communications director, made an appearance on "Real Time with Bill Maher" giving viewers a glimpse into his quick-tempered New Yorker demeanor, and perspective on current affairs.

Scaramucci joined Maher, David Frum, a senior editor at The Atlantic, and Donna Brazile, author of "Hacks: The Inside Story" on Friday night.

When Scaramucci first sat down with the panel, Maher applauded him for joining. Scaramucci quickly played the peace card.

"Republicans and democrats, we can get along," Scaramucci said. "We can be disagreeable, or also try to be agreeable while doing it, be cordial."

Scaramucci proceeded to weigh in on current events—specifically the GOP-Nunes memo, and offered unsolicited advice to his old boss Donald Trump.

"There's a lot going on. I'm not going to nitpick on the memo, but when I read it today my reaction was there's something wrong with the spirit of the situation," he said.

Scaramucci said while Trump wouldn't take his advice—because he was only part of White House staff for eleven days—if he were, he would suggest the following: "Putting a bipartisan group of people together, and to look at the processes we have in place to make sure the agencies are shielded from the accusations of the politicization on either side."

Maher said, "you're dreaming, that's not what he [Trump] does."

Frum chimed in a couple minutes later, asking Scaramucci a different question.

"I have a question for you: before you went into government, where you served as communications advisor, you were given an enormous offer from a Chinese group for the purchase of your company for what, $90 million, before you went in. After you came out, the purchasers lost interest. How am I to understand that?” Frum asked.

Scaramucci turned defensive.

"The purchasers did not lose interest, that's a factually incorrect statement," Scaramucci said. He went on to suggest that Frum should call the Treasury Department, calling Frum's question a "setup question."

Scaramucci said while he doesn't curse on TV, Frum's question was "b.s.," to which Maher interrupted and questioned Scaramucci's claim that he doesn't swear.

"You curse to reporters," Maher said to Scaramucci. "You're the one who said Steve Bannon sucks his own c***."

Maher was referring to the New Yorker article in July 2017 written by Ryan Lizza.

"I'm sort of surprised that didn't win the fake news award," Scaramucci responded.

Maher asked, "Oh, so you didn't say that?"

"No, I don't think he's anatomically capable of it," Scaramucci said.

You can watch the full episode here; Scaramucci's appearance starts around 29 minutes.


By Nicole Karlis

Nicole Karlis is a senior writer at Salon, specializing in health and science. Tweet her @nicolekarlis.

MORE FROM Nicole Karlis


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Anthony Scaramucci Bill Maher David Frum Donna Brazile Real Time With Bill Maher