The Mooch Came to NYU And it Went About How You Would Expect
Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci spoke at an NYU College Republicans event Thursday night.
Former White House House Communications Director Anthony “the Mooch” Scaramucci spoke Thursday night at an event hosted by NYU’s College Republicans chapter. Scaramucci discussed his experience on the campaign trail with then-candidate Trump as well as his brief stint in the White House, delivered crowd-pleasing one-liners, talked about his upbringing and offered life lessons to the predominantly conservative audience of over 120.
During his talk, Scaramucci— whose White House tenure lasted just 10 days (11 if you ask him)—addressed the outburst that led to his firing: the infamous vulgar tirade lambasting then-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, then-White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and others to a reporter in July.
“I made a terrible mistake using that language. I thought it was an off the record conversation. I made a mistake. Now guess what? It’s not the first mistake I made in my life. It won’t be the last mistake,” Scaramucci said. “The point I’m making is…you have to, in every situation, dust yourself off, look what you did right or wrong, and move forward.”
While the event was billed as the erstwhile political operative and investment banker speaking about “forgiveness and common mistakes in business and politics,” Scaramucci mostly discussed other topics during his hour-long appearance.
The Mooch kicked off his talk, which lasted roughly half of the allotted time before opening the floor to questions, by recalling his early years growing up in a blue-collar Italian-American family on Long Island. “It was a middle-class life. My dad worked too hard to tell you we grew up poor,” he said.
He added, “The one problem was that we had no books in my house, so it was weird that I ended up going to Harvard.”
Scaramucci emphasized the personal importance of his Italian heritage and complained about those in the media who drew upon common tropes about Italian-Americans to poke fun at him.
“They were hitting me left and right with these Italian stereotypes,” he said. He cited being called a “human pinky [ring],” by “Late Night” host Seth Meyers, along with “Tony Gumba,” The Sopranos” character Paulie Walnuts and a “gym, tan, laundry” from “The Jersey Shore” type, as examples.
“We only do gym and tan; our mothers do the laundry,” he quipped.
Along these lines, Scaramucci said he was subjected to unfair media coverage of him in general, though he said he believes “fake news” is not a useful term.
Scaramucci also mildly criticized some of President Donald Trump’s behavior. “I do not think that’s appropriate,” he said of Trump’s labeling NFL players who kneeled during the Nation Anthem “sons of bitches.”
“I don’t think the Mika Brzezinski facelift tweet was appropriate,” he said.
Moreover, according to Scaramucci, Trump, who had been attempting to persuade him to join his campaign during the primary as he worked for other candidates, was successful in his entry into politics because he was able to connect with average Americans.
Scaramucci rattled off many common populist talking points used to criticize the various sorts of Washington insiders, or the denizens of the “swamp” — crooked career politicians, lobbyists—and said “they don’t care about you” and seek to “feather each other’s beds.” He lamented the “collective bias” and “echo chamber” among elites writ large.
This dynamic, coupled with the comparative lack of good-paying jobs in the modern era, in Scaramucci’s telling, led to a disconnect between those who set the policies for the country and everyday Americans.
“There were only two candidates that saw that,” Scramucci said, naming Trump and Vermont Senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
“I’m in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the president is talking to the people I grew up with,” he said.
Scaramucci said Trump, who was raised in a wealthy family in Queens, was more connected with everyday Americans than he was. “It’s not surprising that he won,” he continued, though he confessed “It got a little surprising after the Access Hollywood tape.”
Still, Scaramucci was sure to touch upon several standard conservative talking points to the receptive, largely right-leaning audience: government cannot and should not offer equality of outcome, nothing is truly free and taxes unfairly take away your hard-earned paycheck. “If you make a lot of money, they take 52, 53 percent of it,” he said. “Now all of the sudden, you are a minority partner in your own life.”
Furthermore, he offered muddled words of advice and insight into how fortunate those in the audience are. “Life is unfair. You guys all got that?” he said. “It is completely unfair,” adding that nobody chooses where they were born or what type of family they are raised by.
“You’re sitting here in one of the greatest cities in the history of mankind, in one of the best universities in the world, and you’re getting an opportunity to learn — you know the food is outstanding out there, right?” he said, veering off topic. “You’re eating garbage probably, because you’re students.”
“Second thing about life is that it’s unsafe,” he continued. “You got that? Fortunately, if you look at the food cycle, we’re the top of the food chain, thank God, but a lot of people get hurt out there, right? Sharks are eating people and so are the lions. … You get the point.”
Additionally, Scaramucci argued it is important for conservatives to speak to those with whom they disagree. Scaramuci cited his agreeing to serve as a guest on “Real Time With Bill Maher” as an example of reaching across the aisle.
“The guy’s an idiot,” said Scaramucci of the liberal Maher, clarifying seconds later, “Let me retract that for a sec. He’s a very smart idiot.”
The former White House communications director was characteristically unhindered in offering his opinion on a vast array of media and political figures. Bannon? He liked the “Sloppy Steve” nickname Trump assigned to him. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio? “Not really Italian.” Fellow Italian-American and CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, however, is one of his “best friends,” according to Scaramucci.
On Russian President Vladimir Putin, Scaramucci said Trump should adopt a balanced approach on Russia policy and “bring him to the table.” On foreign policy and trade, Scaramucci said he agreed with Trump’s outlook but does not always articulate it in an ideal manner. “The problem he has is he doesn’t explain it super well,” he said. “His instincts are right.”
Asked by a student about his thoughts on Florida Senator Marco Rubio, he indicated he didn’t know Rubio well but said the senator erred in engaging in a war of words with then-candidate Trump during the Republican primary. “Trump is a brawler from Queens and Senator Rubio isn’t,” said Scaramucci. He likened the dynamic between the two former rivals to getting in the mud with a pig. “You’re gonna get very muddy and the pig is going to like it.”
Asked about his favorite White House story during the Q&A portion of the evening, Scaramucci recalled an anecdote of a time while aboard Air Force One. Trump, a notorious germaphobe, noticed Scaramucci had a hoarse voice and was under the weather. Trump, Scaramucci said, subsequently sent him to his doctor, Ronny Jackson (now Trump’s nominee to be the new VA Secretary), who proceeded to inject him in the butt with penicillin and cortisone before he could return to sit alongside Trump during the flight.
In an interview, Elena Hatib, senior and president of NYU College Republicans, said she was pleased with the event. “I think it went really smoothly. All the parties involved coordinated really well,” she said. “We got a lot of new members from it and I’m really pleased that everyone enjoyed their time at our event tonight.”
“I thought it was a good event. He engaged the crowd. He’s a good speaker,” said Xavier Malaussena, the club’s vice president, also a senior. “I think everyone liked it.”
