Scaramucci disinvited from GOP fundraiser after criticism of Trump tweets

The Palm Beach County GOP disinvited Anthony Scaramucci from an upcoming fundraiser after the onetime White House communications director weighed in to criticize remarks from President Trump as racist.

“I’m the chairman of the board, I spoke with members of the board, and the overwhelming consensus was we should disinvite him. That his comments regarding the president were unfair and unacceptable,” party chairman Michael Barnett told The Hill.

Barnett said he contacted Scaramucci on Thursday morning to let him know he would be disinvited from speaking at the party’s upcoming Aug. 15 “Lobsterfest.”{mosads}

Politico first reported the Palm Beach GOP’s decision.

Scaramucci tweeted earlier this week that Trump’s tweets telling four minority Democratic congresswomen to “go back” to where they came from were “racist and unacceptable.” 

The former White House official suggested the president wouldn’t tell a “white immigrant” to “go back to your country.” He later told the BBC that Trump is “turning into” a racist.

“We strongly disagree with what he said about the president,” Barnett, who is African American, told The Hill of Scaramucci’s comments. “We don’t believe for a second that the president is racist or that his Tweet was racist.” 

Barnett said Scaramucci was “gracious” and “didn’t say much” in response to being disinvited, but said he would take the event off of his calendar. 

“We like Mr. Scarmucci a lot, and respect his service to the president, we just strongly disagreed with what he said and thought it would be best if he didn’t speak at our dinner,” Barnett said. 

Democrats widely denounced Trump’s tweets targeting Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.). All four women of color are American citizens and three of them were born in the U.S.

While some GOP lawmakers have spoken out to condemn Trump’s comments, many Republicans have stood by the president’s defense that the comments were not racist.

In a House vote earlier this week, just four Republicans voted with all Democrats to condemn the comments as racist.