Scaramucci calls Trump’s hiring of Kelly a ‘mistake,’ slams his own firing as ‘nonsensical’

Anthony Scaramucci slammed outgoing White House chief of staff John Kelly late Monday, telling CNN he felt the four-star general mishandled his firing as White House communications director after just 11 days, calling it “nonsensical.”

“You just don’t have to fire people like that, it’s just nonsensical,” Scaramucci said on “Chris Cuomo Primetime” on Monday night. “You don’t fire people like that,” he added, saying he thought it was a mistake for President Trump to hire Kelly in the first place.

{mosads}“I honor his service. I honor his service as a Marine and I honor his service to the military, but yes, I do think it was a mistake because he didn’t have the right personality to deal with President Trump,” Scaramucci said.

Scaramucci also offered support for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), whom he dubbed a “personal friend” and “trench warrior,” as the president’s next chief of staff. 

“I think somebody would need to have an honest discourse with the president, would be able to talk to the president in a way the president likes but also to challenge him here and there, to point out that strategically we could be doing better,” Scaramucci said.

“If you look at the list of his accomplishments, we should be at a 60 percent approval rating, so we can talk about how we can get there,” he added. “I believe he can. But he needs to collaborate with more people.”

Trump currently sits at 43.5 percent approval in the Real Clear Politics index of eight polls. The number has fluctuated slightly, but is the same as it was in late September.

Senior adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner told Fox’s Sean Hannity late Monday that the president will name his next chief of staff “when he’s ready.”

“The president will make the right choice for chief of staff when he’s ready, and hopefully he’ll choose somebody he’s got great chemistry with, great relationship with, who will help him navigate the next couple of years through all of the good opportunities that emerge to keep pushing forward,” Kushner said.

Kushner and Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and Kushner’s wife, reportedly lobbied to have Kelly replaced after privately clashing with him during his tenure, which began in July 2017.

Trump announced over the weekend that Kelly would leave at the end of the year.