Latest news with #AnthonyScaramucci
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's former communication director says president has only apologized once in 20 years
Donald Trump's former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci revealed that he's only witnessed the president apologize once in the past 20 years – and it was after a particularly 'embarrassing' moment. Scaramucci, who in 2017 served just 11 days in the Trump administration, made the revelation during a live taping of The Rest is Politics U.S. at London's O2 Arena on Wednesday. After rifling through the president's perceived hits and misses, an audience member asked 'The Mooch' and his co-host, MSNBC contributor Katty Kay, the most embarrassing thing they have seen the president do. 'The most embarrassing thing I saw him do, which was one of the things he did not want to do, is apologize to Melania,' the former financier said. The incident, which took place in October 2016, just months before Scaramucci joined Trump's transition team, was the only time in 20 years of knowing him that he could recall the president ever apologizing. Anthony Scaramucci made the claim during a live show of his podcast, The Rest is Politics US (Goalhanger/The Rest is Politics US) 'I can tell you the exact day he did it. He did it at 11.50 p.m., and he did it on October 7, 2016,' he continued. 'And why is that? At 4 p.m. that day, they released the Access Hollywood tape where he was on the bus with Billy Bush, saying things that were wholly inappropriate. They were all panicked and Trump was embarrassed by it.' The interview tape featured Trump bragging in vulgar terms to Bush about his ability to grope and have sex with women when he pleases. It was leaked just one month before the 2016 presidential election, which saw him defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton at the ballot box. 'I made a move on her, and I failed. I'll admit it. I did try and f*** her… I moved on her like a b****. She was married,' Trump could be heard saying in the 2005 conversation, which was caught on a hot microphone. 'You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful... I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait,' he continued. 'And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the p***y. You can do anything.' Trump (right) went on to win the 2016 presidential election, while Billy Bush was fired from NBC (Getty Images) The leaked recording prompted an immediate frenzy, and a day later, his wife Melania Trump told Fox News that 'he apologized to me' for his 'offensive' and 'inappropriate 'remarks.' Scaramucci noted another time when the president 'apologized.' 'He apologized to Melania Trump, and he was very embarrassed while he was doing it,' he said. 'And he apologized to the original Pocahontas for calling Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas,' he continued, citing Trump's nickname for the Democratic senator that some critics say amounts to a racial slur. 'He felt that was unfair to the original.' Scaramucci said he's seen the president apologize just once, properly, in two decades (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) The president has been both celebrated and ridiculed for his political mantra: "Don't apologize for anything, ever." While on the campaign trail in 2015, Trump told late-night show host Jimmy Fallon, 'Apologizing is a great thing, but you have to be wrong.' A decade later, he regularly touts his omniscience in speeches and on social media and even hawks 'TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!' merchandise in his store.
Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
The Rest Is Politics US review — the stale art of Trump-hating
Like an enormous water buffalo sustaining a flock of flea-eating river birds with a lifetime of free dinners, the Trump administration supports a throng of parasitic podcasters. Conservatives gawk and cheer. Liberals gawk and scoff. The world can't look away and the dollars roll in. Very firmly in the gawk and scoff camp are Anthony Scaramucci and Katty Kay of The Rest Is Politics US. Kay is a British journalist. Scaramucci, you probably recall, is famous for his ill-fated 11-day stint as Trump's communications director. Though not quite culture-bestriding political commentary superstars on the level of Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart (hosts of the namesake show The Rest Is Politics), Kay and Scaramucci command a loyal audience of Trump-transfixed British liberals. That audience — world-weary, trainer-wearing centrists — was out in force last night for The Rest Is Politics US Live. Kay and Scaramucci appeared at Indigo at the O2 in London, a smaller side theatre in the famous dome where Billie Eilish was playing the main stage. But even Eilish's tweenage obsessives would struggle to equal the levels of fan devotion from the Rest Is Politics US crowd. 'Scaramucci 2028' caps were on sale at the merch stand and the hosts were whooped and cheered on to the stage. • Read more radio and podcast reviews I confess to a certain bewilderment. I've never quite got the appeal of The Rest Is Politics US. Scaramucci, though clearly genial, strikes me as a bit of a blowhard. I've never felt Kay has much of shattering insight to say on US politics. Still, the fun of Trump-hating will never die. You may have thought the vein of political comedy based on remarking repeatedly on what a ludicrous man the president is with his orange hair and silly tan was exhausted half a decade ago. Not here. The audience chortled away happily as we trotted through his disgraceful antics … the tariffs! The Musk bust-up! The hair! The hair looks like a racoon, Scaramucci observed to merry guffaws. My lips nearly twitched moderately upwards at his description of the president as 'an orange Moses descending from Mount Evil'. But an excess of self-respect prevented even a half-smile from forming. I read a thousand versions of that joke on Twitter in 2016. This stuff is really pretty tired. • Why are podcasters so fixated by Donald Trump? As for the commentary … well, we learnt that 'Trump has got Europeans to take defence spending seriously', that hosting Trump for a state visit may make him feel warmly towards Britain and that by cutting USAID Elon Musk's Doge unit has damaged American soft power. Why anyone would fight their way to the O2 through hordes of marauding Eilish fans on a sticky July evening to hear such lukewarm insights is beyond me. Such are the mysteries of podcasts. Rather more tenuously Scaramucci thinks Trump's havering on Ukraine can be explained by the fact Putin has kompromat of a sexual nature on the American president. To me this is sheer conspiracism but at the O2 I'm in a minority. 'Raise your hands if you think Putin's got something on Trump,' Scaramucci says and a forest of eager arms appears. 'It's not a pee-pee tape,' Scaramucci opines confidently. 'Trump could survive a pee-pee tape.' At one point Scaramucci says of Trump, 'He's a really bad guy, ladies and gentlemen.' This stunningly original observation is greeted with cheers and applause. It's just so easy. As long as Trump remains in the White House, the podcasters are safe. ★★☆☆☆
The Independent
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Trump's former communication director says president has only apologized once in 20 years
Donald Trump 's former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci revealed that he's only witnessed the president apologize once in the past 20 years – and it was after a particularly 'embarrassing' moment. Scaramucci, who in 2017 served just 11 days in the Trump administration, made the revelation during a live taping of The Rest is Politics U.S. at London's O2 Arena on Wednesday. After rifling through the president's perceived hits and misses, an audience member asked 'The Mooch' and his co-host, MSNBC contributor Katty Kay, the most embarrassing thing they have seen the president do. 'The most embarrassing thing I saw him do, which was one of the things he did not want to do, is apologize to Melania,' the former financier said. The incident, which took place in October 2016, just months before Scaramucci joined Trump's transition team, was the only time in 20 years of knowing him that he could recall the president ever apologizing. 'I can tell you the exact day he did it. He did it at 11.50 p.m., and he did it on October 7, 2016,' he continued. 'And why is that? At 4 p.m. that day, they released the Access Hollywood tape where he was on the bus with Billy Bush, saying things that were wholly inappropriate. They were all panicked and Trump was embarrassed by it.' The interview tape featured Trump bragging in vulgar terms to Bush about his ability to grope and have sex with women when he pleases. It was leaked just one month before the 2016 presidential election, which saw him defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton at the ballot box. 'I made a move on her, and I failed. I'll admit it. I did try and f*** her… I moved on her like a b****. She was married,' Trump could be heard saying in the 2005 conversation, which was caught on a hot microphone. 'You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful... I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait,' he continued. 'And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the p***y. You can do anything.' The leaked recording prompted an immediate frenzy, and a day later, his wife Melania Trump told Fox News that 'he apologized to me' for his 'offensive' and 'inappropriate 'remarks.' Scaramucci noted another time when the president 'apologized.' 'He apologized to Melania Trump, and he was very embarrassed while he was doing it,' he said. 'And he apologized to the original Pocahontas for calling Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas,' he continued, citing Trump's nickname for the Democratic senator that some critics say amounts to a racial slur. 'He felt that was unfair to the original.' The president has been both celebrated and ridiculed for his political mantra: "Don't apologize for anything, ever." While on the campaign trail in 2015, Trump told late-night show host Jimmy Fallon, 'Apologizing is a great thing, but you have to be wrong.' A decade later, he regularly touts his omniscience in speeches and on social media and even hawks 'TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!' merchandise in his store.
Fast Company
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Fast Company
Everything you need to know about Elon Musk's ‘America Party'
After more than a week of threats, Elon Musk formally launched the America Party over the July Fourth weekend, a third political party that he says will represent the silent majority of Americans and officially marks his break from the Trump administration. It is, in some ways, a stunning reversal from just a month and a half ago, when Musk was still 'First Buddy' to Trump and wearing hats that read 'Trump was right about everything.' Now, the world's richest man has declared himself a political opponent of the Republican Party and attracted some notable backers. Starting a political party and effecting real change, however, are two very different things. While the America Party will presumably have plenty of funding, convincing voters en masse to support a candidate who isn't Republican or Democrat may be easier said than done. Here's a look at Musk's America Party and some of the hurdles it faces. Who is supporting Musk's America Party? Musk says an online poll he ran on whether he should start a third political party showed a two-to-one preference in favor. The poll, though hardly scientific, was conducted on Still, the passage of the budget bill made it virtually certain that this was happening. Since then, a few notable figures have shown what appears to be support for the America Party. Mark Cuban has offered advice on how to get candidates on ballots, and former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci said he would 'like to meet to discuss' the party with Musk. What seats will the America Party target? Musk hasn't offered specifics yet but said the party could be 'laser-focus[ed] on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts. Given the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws.' He has not said whether the party will run a presidential candidate in 2028. Will the America Party be able to get on ballots? Cuban referred Musk to the Center for Competitive Democracy, whose mission is 'to strengthen American democracy by increasing electoral competition.' That may help, but both state and federal requirements must be met before a party or candidate can appear on a ballot. This will likely require gathering a large number of petition signatures—though Musk could potentially achieve that by hosting rallies and repeating the financial giveaways he used in the 2024 election and Wisconsin Supreme Court race. It's worth noting that no third-party candidate managed to appear on every state ballot during the 2024 presidential race. When is the last time a third party won electoral votes? It's been a while. George Wallace of the American Independent Party was the last third-party presidential candidate to win electoral votes, in 1968. Other notable third-party candidates since then, such as Ross Perot and Ralph Nader, won significant portions of the popular vote but failed to secure any electoral votes. Does Musk have the political strength to make the America Party a threat? That's the big question—and one without a clear answer. Musk's endorsement certainly helped Trump win in 2024, but his involvement with DOGE, along with blunt remarks about politicians and federal employees, alienated many who once idolized him. He also tried to influence voters in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race earlier this year, but the election went firmly to Democrats—a result many political observers saw as a sign of Musk's waning influence. Musk certainly has the financial means to support the America Party. The bigger question is whether his involvement will prove beneficial or a liability. Who will run for office as an America Party candidate? So far, no potential candidates have publicly aligned themselves with Musk's new party. Does the formation of the America Party benefit Republicans or Democrats more? Right now, the odds are fairly low that America Party candidates will outperform both Republican and Democratic opponents, mainly because the party is so new and lacks a clearly defined platform (aside from Musk's opposition to the budget bill and national debt). Given Musk's previous alignment with conservatives, the America Party is likely to siphon votes from MAGA-aligned candidates and Republicans. While nothing is certain, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to benefit from having an America Party candidate on the ballot.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Elon Musk claims he has launched a new party. Will it work?
Just over a month since he departed the White House, Elon Musk claims to have formed a new political party — but even the world's richest person could face some insurmountable challenges with this new venture, experts warn. Despite leading the Department of Government Efficiency in Donald Trump's administration for four months, Musk has publicly split from the president as of late, most recently criticizing the 'big, beautiful bill.' On Saturday, the tech billionaire announced on X, the platform he owns, that he was forming a 'new political party' - the America Party. Musk has detailed how this new party would infiltrate the country's long-standing two-party system. 'One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,' he explained. 'Given the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people.' Fellow billionaire Mark Cuban and Trump's former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci have encouraged the idea. But history and institutional barriers suggest it would be unlikely that the 'America Party' would succeed, experts say. 'Third-party movements in the US have generally arisen out of some sort of set of deep-seated grievances,' Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor at Emory University, told CNN. 'It was not just some wealthy person who's decided they wanted to start a third party.' The Democratic and Republican parties aren't the only ones to exist — but history shows alternative party candidates fail to gain traction in presidential elections. Even prominent Independent Senator Bernie Sanders caucuses with Democrats. Jill Stein, for example, served as the Green Party's presidential candidate in 2012, 2016, and 2024. In 2024, she earned 628,129 votes, but no electoral votes. Then there's Ross Perot, who ran as an independent in 1992 and 1996. During his first run, he garnered 19 percent of the popular vote — but still didn't earn an electoral vote. 'Perot did amazingly well … but he didn't come in first in any state, and the way the electoral college works, that means he's got nothing,' Hans Noel, a professor at Georgetown University researching political parties and ideology, told the Washington Post. The most successful third-party candidate in U.S. history was none other than a former president: Theodore Roosevelt. After serving in office as a Republican, he ran again in 1912 as a Progressive Party candidate, garnering 88 electoral votes. He lost to Democrat Woodrow Wilson. More recently, in 1968 George Wallace, who ran as an American Independent candidate, earned 45 electoral votes; Republican Richard Nixon won 301. Following Musk's announcement, some also pointed to more recent examples of third-party runs, like the 'No Labels' party, which failed to find a centrist candidate to take on Donald Trump or Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential race. Republican strategist Melik Abdul responded to Musk's tweet: "'No Labels' was designed to do the very thing you're suggesting. It, too, was a dud.' Abdul added: 'You have the resources to buy influence but lack the charisma and political gravitas to lead a [movement].' But Musk's resources alone may not be enough to secure a new political party due to donation limits. 'One very wealthy individual cannot capitalize a new national political party, the way he might start a business, because of federal contribution limits,' former FEC chair Lee Goodman told CNN. 'The prospect of a wealthy founder seed funding a national party to participate in federal elections around the country is not feasible in the current regulatory system.' Musk may have spent more than $250 million helping Trump get elected during the last cycle. But different rules apply to political parties, Bradley Smith, another former FEC chair, told the outlet: 'You can fund super PACs all you want. But you can't fund a political party, as a strange part of American law.' Abdul's remark that Musk lacks charisma may also serve as a barrier to building a new party. Recent indicators suggest he's not too popular. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took a dig at Musk's new party announcement, telling CNN's Dana Bash on Sunday: "The principles of DOGE were very popular. I think if you looked at the polling, Elon was not." A Quinnipiac Poll taken last month shows just 30 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of the tech billionaire while 57 percent have an unfavorable opinion of him. Among Republicans 62 percent viewed Musk favorably. Some predicted the billionaire could split the GOP vote. "Third parties do not tend to have a long lifetime in American politics. Often, they are bugbears to one particular party, and this might be the case with Musk's proposed America Party," Dafydd Townley, who teaches at the University of Portsmouth, told Newsweek. "If anything, the new party would likely split the Republican vote, potentially resulting in a Democrat-dominated House of Representatives, at least in the short term, due to the winner-takes-all electoral system." If anything's certain, the rocket-building Musk doesn't shy away from a challenge. He appears confident in fighting what appears to be an uphill battle. In response to an X user posting about how he could 'break the two-party stranglehold,' Musk replied: 'Not hard tbh.'
