The new White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, appears to have quickly grown weary of the internet reminding him about his past and how his views didn’t always align with those of his new boss, President Donald Trump. On Saturday, Scaramucci acknowledged what many had already noticed: he was deleting old tweets. “Past views evolved & shouldn’t be a distraction. I serve @POTUS agenda & that’s all that matters,” he wrote.
Nearly two hours later, Scaramucci seemed to explain his decision further, writing that “the politics of ‘gotcha’ are over. I have thick skin and we’re moving on to @POTUS agenda serving the American people.”
Scaramucci’s old tweets in which he bashed his new boss, praised Hillary Clinton, and supported gun control quickly made the rounds on social media as soon as he was appointed. Some have since been deleted, but many on Twitter took screen captures to make sure his old messages would be immortalized.
Some of the first tweets to disappear were the most explicitly anti-Trump. One, for example, referred to Trump’s campaign as a “spectacle.” Another tweet attacked former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich for his support of Trump, calling him “smart with no judgment.” He also praised Mitt Romney for not joining the Trump team. Scaramucci also deleted an old tweet in which he praised Clinton, expressing “hope” that she runs for president because “she is incredibly competent.”
Scaramucci hasn’t deleted all his old tweets praising Clinton. At least not yet. “I like Hillary. Have to go with the best athlete. We need to turn this around,” he wrote in 2012.
Some of the deleted tweets weren’t about people, but issues. “We (the USA) has 5% of the world’s population but 50% of the world’s guns,” he wrote in a deleted tweet. “Enough is enough. It is just common sense it apply more controls.” But he has not been uniform in his deletions. Another tweet in which Scaramucci says that he has “always been for strong gun control laws” is still up.
Scaramucci also removed a tweet in which he called it “disheartening” that there are people who still think climate cange is a “hoax” and another where he criticized Trump’s plan to build a wall along the border with Mexico: “Walls don’t work. Never have never will. The Berlin Wall 1961-1989 don’t fall for it.” But he has yet to delete an old tweet in which he said he was “against the death penalty, and Pro Choice.”
During a White House briefing on Friday, Scaramucci apologized for some of his old criticism of Trump. “He brings it up every 15 seconds, OK? One of the biggest mistakes I made, because I was an inexperienced person in the world of politics,” he said. “I was supporting another candidate. I should have never said that about him. So Mr. President, if you’re listening, I personally apologize for the 50th time for saying that.”
