Scaramucci Blasts Bannon On 'Late Night': 'Up To Me, He'd Be Gone'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork.com) - Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci went on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" to say if it were up to him, top adviser Steve Bannon would be gone from President Donald Trump's administration.
"But that's up to the president, that's not up to me," he said.
Walking out onto Colbert's stage to a mix of applause and jeers as the band played Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," "The Mooch" brushed off the initial audience reaction.
"Boo, yeah, get it up," Scaramucci said. "I'll pretend those as 'Mooches' and not boos," he said.
"We'll find out later," replied Colbert.
During his appears on the show, Scaramucci was shown a picture of himself and former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus glaring at each other at the White House.
"That's a rough photo, right?" said Scaramucci, adding "'The Mooch' of Long Island would say there's no love lost there, obviously. "
He said he and Priebus got along well when he was writing checks to the Republican National Committee, which Priebus once led, but their relationship became "adversarial" after working together in Trump's administration.
When Colbert asked about Priebus and ongoing White House leaks, especially regarding Bannon, Scaramucci was quick to point fingers.
"I've been saying that, I said he was, obviously I got caught on tape saying he was" said Scaramucci. "I have no problem saying that."
According to CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett, Bannon's position as the president 's chief strategist may be in jeopardy -- with one source saying Bannon could be gone by the end of the week.
On other lessons from his brief 10-day tenure, Scaramucci said he knows President Trump "as a compassionate person," while reiterating that he thought the the president should have been more harsh more quickly on white supremacists involved in the violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend.
Of Trump's frequent off-the-cuff remarks, Scaramucci said, "That's him wearing his heart on his sleeve."