After he professed his undying love to Donald Trump in White House press briefing last Friday, former Wall Street moneyman and recently appointed White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci has apparently begun to purge the press office of staff loyal to White House Chief of Staff and former RNC chairman Reince Priebus.
Politico reports that first up is assistant press secretary Michael Short, who is “to be the first of a wave of staffers closely aligned with Priebus to be shown the door.” Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who allied with Priebus and served as the RNC communications director, resigned upon Sacarmucci’s appointment. He has been replaced by Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
“I’m committed to taking the comms shop down to Sarah [Huckabee Sanders] and me, if I can’t get the leaks to stop,” Scaramucci said. (Director of Social Media Dan Scavino and Director of Strategic Communications Hope Hicks are reportedly safe, too).
It’s hard to imagine the White House press office becoming any more hostile and dysfunctional than it has been, but if Scaramucci delivers on replacing leftover RNC flak with Trump loyalists, it’s about to get a lot worse.