Speed Reads

scorched earth

Anthony Scaramucci compares Trump to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster

It's starting to look like Anthony Scaramucci's feud with President Trump might last longer than his tenure as White House communications director.

Scaramucci, who spent just 11 days working in the White House, is now on Day 3 of his back-and-forth with Trump. It started in earnest when Scaramucci appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday night and said while he often supports his "friend" Trump, the president has done "certain things" that are "absolutely indefensible." Trump responded on Saturday by bashing Scaramucci, saying he was "quickly terminated (11 days) from a position that he was totally incapable of handling." Trump, who hired Scaramucci, added that he knows "very little about me."

In an interview with Axios' Jonathan Swan on Sunday, Scaramucci said Trump has set the United States up for disaster. "We are now in the early episodes of Chernobyl on HBO, where the reactor is melting down and the apparatchiks are trying to figure out whether to cover it up or start the clean-up process," he said. Right now, saying that Republicans might need to run someone else in 2020 is an "unspeakable" thing, Scaramucci added, but if Trump doesn't "reform his behavior," Republican donors will pick "country over party" and start thinking about finding a replacement.