Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich harshly criticized White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci in a radio interview Thursday, calling his recent actions “divisive” and “unhelpful.”
Gingrich, a close ally of President Donald Trump, made the comments after Scaramucci appeared on CNN’s “New Day,” where he insinuated White House chief of staff Reince Priebus has been responsible for the leaks coming out of Trump’s administration.
“I think that Scaramucci had better be a lot more careful than he has been,” Gingrich said on the “Laura Ingraham Show.” “He obviously likes the limelight. He obviously likes being in the media. I would say right now that he’s being more pugnacious than effective. I think he ought to slow down a little bit and learn what he’s doing. The things he said about Reince — if he said them — where’s his proof? It’s totally unhelpful to have someone going around starting family fights in public. If he’s gonna be that divisive, I’m not sure he’s gonna be very useful to the President.”
“I think Scaramucci’s full of himself,” added Gingrich. “I think he got down here from New York. I think he’s all excited. And I think he’s, frankly, talking more than he’s thinking. He needs to slow down and learn the business.”
Gingrich said Scaramucci needed to learn that he couldn’t just speak his mind and his job was to organize the President’s communications.
“I’m very underwhelmed by this propensity to go out an pick — attack your own side,” said Gingrich.
“I think he could be a great asset, but I think he has to learn to be part of a team, and I think he has to learn to be a part of some planned process if he’s gonna actually live that out,” he added.