Anthony Scaramucci had the most dramatic July in America: His wife filed for divorce, his second son was born, he landed his dream job, vanquished his chief rival — and lost his job in a humiliating, sudden meltdown.
Here’s a timeline of his rise and fall, going back to the early days of the Trump Administration.
Jan. 17: Scaramucci sells a majority of stake in SkyBridge Capital, a company that now manages more than $11 billion in assets, to a Chinese conglomerate in the hopes of starting a “new chapter.” That chapter was supposed to be a White House gig — but it didn’t materialize.
Feb. 1: White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and President Trump’s top strategist, Steve Bannon, tell Scaramucci no job is coming. (The Huffington Post later reports that Priebus cost Scaramucci the job by claiming his SkyBridge deal was an attempt by the Chinese buyers to gain White House influence.)
Wife files for divorce
July 6: Five days shy of his third wedding anniversary, Scaramucci’s wife, Deidra Ball, files for divorce, though the filing doesn’t go immediately public.
July 21: The Trump Administration finally gives Scaramucci a job, and a big one: White House director of communications.
July 22: Twitter users began digging up Scaramucci’s past comments, including, “Walls don’t work. Never have never will. The Berlin Wall 1961-1989 don’t fall for it.” He also deletes a post on climate change that said it was “disheartening” people still believe it’s a “hoax.”
July 23: Scaramucci fares well on the Sunday talk shows. The Los Angeles Times calls his performance “smooth and noncombative.”
July 24: While Scaramucci is with the president at the Boy Scouts Jamboree in West Virginia, Ball is in a New York hospital giving birth to their second son, James. According to a Page Six report, he simply sent his estranged wife a text: “Congratulations, I’ll pray for our child.”
July 26: After a dinner out, Scaramucci makes his now-infamous call to the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza. He calls Preibus a “f—ing paranoid schizophrenic” and says Bannon is “trying to suck [his] own c—.” He says he wants to “f–ing kill all the leakers.” He also predicts that Priebus will leave the White House soon.
July 27: Scaramucci tweets, “I sometimes use colorful language. I will refrain in this arena but not give up the passionate fight for @realDonaldTrump‘s agenda. #MAGA”
July 28: Shockingly, Priebus’ exit is announced and it appears, briefly, that Scaramucci has won their feud. Meanwhile, the New York Post reports on the divorce, citing an anonymous insider who said Ball grew tired of Scaramucci’s “naked ambition.”
July 30: The Daily Beast reports that Scaramucci’s 15-second brief cameo in Oliver Stone’s 2010 sequel “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” came at a price — $100,000, according to The Daily Beast. Citing “sources close to the production,” the Beast says Scaramucci paid for two quick appearances in the film plus the logo for his SkyBridge Capital to be displayed prominently.
July 31: Scaramucci is out after only 10 days on the job, reportedly at the urging of new White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.
July 31: The Washington Post reports that Scaramucci was wrongly declared dead in a Harvard Law School alumni directory. “Regrettably, there is an error in the Harvard Law School alumni directory in the listing for Anthony Scaramucci,” a spokeswoman tells the Post. “We offer our sincere apologies to Mr. Scaramucci.”
In all seriousness, this is a sad story. Not a laugher. Guy sold his company, divorced his wife, didn’t see his kid's birth, for…. this.
— Sam Stein (@samstein) July 31, 2017