Anthony Scaramucci made his Late Show debut on Monday night, the second stop on his unofficial media redemption tour. “I’m probably the only person that would come from the Trump administration, or formerly from the Trump administration, to sit here,” he told Stephen Colbert. He has a point. Colbert has been one of late night’s most biting critics of the Trump administration, and the late-night host certainly didn’t hold back when it came to mocking Scaramucci in particular during Scaramucci’s 10-day tenure as the incoming White House communications director. Still, it’s unclear whether Scaramucci was prepared for just how contentious his interview with Colbert would be, as the Late Show host aggressively challenged “the Mooch” on his views while the two discussed the administration past and present.
Scaramucci was greeted by the Late Show audience with either boos or chants of “Mooch,” depending on who you ask—though Scaramucci said he preferred to pretend they were saying “Mooch.” (Perhaps some were simply saying “Boo-urns.”) Scaramucci seemed to be trying to keep things light throughout, though his jokes, including self-deprecating observations about his short time in the White House and plenty of Game of Thrones references, were not always well-received. “I’m like Arya Stark,” he opened. “I took a list of all your comedy writers for my kill list.”
“You’re comedically threatening to kill the people who work for me?” asked Colbert. It was a sign of things to come: As the interview went on, Colbert remained on the offensive, often interrupting his guest, while Scaramucci stayed largely subdued—so subdued, in fact, that sometimes I wished that the Scaramucci who blew a kiss to the press or suggested that Steve Bannon “[tries] to suck [his] own cock” would put in an appearance. At times, it even felt like Scaramucci was still the White House communications director, defending Trump as “a compassionate man” even while criticizing the president’s failure to immediately condemn white supremacy in the aftermath of Charlottesville.
“Let’s be fair to be him, he did condemn the Nazis today,” he said.
“Two days later! Does he order his spine on Amazon Prime?” responded Colbert. “Why did it take so long?”
That’s not to say Scaramucci was completely tame during the appearance. He did admit there “there was no love lost” between himself and the now-ousted Reince Priebus while also saying that if he had his way, Steve Bannon would be fired. “I don’t think he’s a white supremacist, although I’ve never asked him if he’s a white supremacist. What I don’t like though, is the toleration of it,” he said. “It’s something that should be completely and totally intolerated.”
Scaramucci wrapped things up by presenting Colbert with a monogrammed knife—a parting gift from a self-proclaimed “front-stabber” who wasn’t necessarily at his sharpest on Monday night.
