“Morning Joe” tackled the latest White House drama Thursday morning, trying to parse through the power struggle between newly-appointed Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.
Joe Scarborough was out Thursday, so Mika Brzezinski led a discussion with show regular Mark Halperin. “[Priebus] is one of the least powerful chief’s of staff we’ve ever seen,” the guest said. “People like Steve Bannon and Anthony Scaramucci are stepping in to say we want more power and influence in the White House… If Reince Priebus goes, the question of who provides any structure becomes a big one.”
“It’s like “Game of Thrones,” but with more viciousness,” Halperin added. President Trump, be careful of any pies served to you in the next few days.
Brzezinski added that all of the infighting is “like ‘Mean Girls.’”
Scaramucci tagged Priebus in a Tweet Wednesday night that said, “In light of the leak of my financial disclosure info which is a felony. I will be contacting the FBI and the Justice Department.”
The tweet has since been deleted, after Political Twitter assumed that Scaramucci was accusing Priebus of being the leak by tagging him in the tweet. Scaramucci called into CNN to clarify what he meant, but didn’t exactly clear Priebus.
“When I put out a tweet and I put Reince’s name in a tweet, they all make the assumption that it’s him because journalists know who the leakers are,” Scaramucci told Chris Cuomo.
Scaramucci continued: “So if Reince wants to explain he’s not a leaker, let him do that. But let me tell you about myself. I’m a straight shooter and I’ll go right to the heart of the matter.”
Trump’s newest staffer is angry because Politico obtained his financial disclosure that showed he was still making money from his investment in Skybridge Capital. He told Cuomo that in the past, people would have been “hung” for foreign policy leaks.
Scaramucci said, “The fish stinks from the head down,” but noted that he and Trump don’t stink. He admitted that he’s had “differences” with Priebus in the past.
“I don’t know if this is repairable or not. That will be up to the president,” Scaramucci said.
For the full “Morning Joe” conversation on Scaramucci, watch the video above.