Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has made a very public about-face in his feelings about President Donald Trump.
During his brief tenure in 2017, “The Mooch” never seemed to pass up an opportunity to speak in front of a camera or microphone, especially when it came to praising the president.
But in the past month and a half, Scaramucci, who spent only 11 days in the Oval Office, seems like a completely different person in his current war of words—mostly on Twitter—with Trump, the Trump administration, and even the GOP. This surprising change comes just Scaramucci broadly proclaimed on Twitter last month that Trump would “win 40+ states in 2020. Tell me why I’m wrong.”
Since then, Scaramucci has reversed his stance. Here’s what happened.
Trump’s ‘racist and unacceptable’ rhetoric
Trump has been called ‘racist’ for his continued verbal attacks on four Democratic congresswomen of color, Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Rashida Tlaib, while critics say the fatal mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton were motivated by Trump’s divisive rhetoric.
Those two events alone may have changed Scaramucci’s tune. He tweeted on July 16 that Trump’s comments on the congresswomen were “racist and unacceptable,” and that “America is a nation of immigrants founded on the ideals of free thought and free speech.”
Trump’s visit with shooting survivors
Scaramucci told MSNBC on August 10 that Trump’s visit to an El Paso hospital to visit with shooting survivors was a “catastrophe.”
“Look, the president didn’t do well on that trip. He probably would be mad at somebody for saying that,” he said. “Maybe he’ll tweet something negative about somebody for saying he didn’t do well, but the facts are he did not do well on the trip because if the trip is being made about him and not the demonstration of compassion and love and caring and empathy for those people, then it becomes a catastrophe for him, the administration, and it’s also a bad reflection on the country.”
As if on cue, Trump responded on Twitter, blasting his now-former supporter.
“Like many other so-called television experts, he knows very little about me other than the fact that this Administration has probably done more than any other Administration in its first 2 1/2 years of existence,” Trump said. “Anthony, who would do anything to come back in, should remember the only reason he is on TV, and it’s not for being the Mooch!”
Scaramucci appeared to have had enough with Trump.
“For the last 3 years, I have fully supported this President. Recently he has said things that divide the country in a way that is unacceptable. So I didn’t pass the 100% litmus test. Eventually, he turns on everyone and soon it will be you and then the entire country,” he tweeted.
Even Grammy-winning singer John Legend chimed in, tweeting that Trump “been the worst for a long time. ‘Recently’ is doing a lot of work in this tweet.”
‘Shaming and bullying’
Those five words are what New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted that Scaramucci texted to her on Monday about his past relationship with Trump.
“I am owning my mistake,” the text reportedly said. “We can debate the lateness or timing, but I own it. He is shaming and bullying me to prevent others from speaking the truth.”
Scaramucci was quickly praised by the likes of fellow Trump critics George Conway, the husband of Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, and former GOP congressman and talk show host Joe Walsh.
The Republican National Committee’s official Twitter account tweeted in response to Scaramucci’s text, “Guess he forgot about everything he said BEFORE he was fired.”
On Monday, Scaramucci touted an op-ed piece he wrote in The Washington Post. He challenged other Republicans to “summon the nerve to speak out on the record” against Trump.
“Defy the culture of fear he has created, and go public with the concerns you readily express in private. Hold on to your patriotism, and help save the country from his depredations,” Scarmucci wrote.
Also, Scaramucci offered his advice to those of “the so-called resistance, please leave room on the off-ramp for those willing to admit their mistakes.”
Scaramucci added in his op-ed that his “personal odyssey” took a bit longer than it should have. He concluded that he’s “not concerned with being on the right side of history” but is determined to ensure good people will be the ones who end up writing it.
“My public praise of (the president) was over the top at times, but my private estimation of him was more measured. I thought Trump, despite his warts, could bring a pragmatic, entrepreneurial approach to the Oval Office. I thought he could be the reset button Washington needed to break through the partisan sclerosis,” Scaramucci wrote. “I thought he would govern in a more inclusive way than his campaign rhetoric might have indicated, and I naively thought that, by joining the administration, I could counteract the far-right voices in the room.
“I thought wrong. And, yes, many of you told me so.”
Going one step further, Scaramucci tweeted about his intentions going forward.
“It’s imperative that we come together to prevent @realDonaldTrump from serving another 4 years in office. At this point I’m not concerned with being on the right side of history, I’m determined to ensure that good people are the ones who end up writing it,” he said.
This time, Trump got even more personal, tweeting that Scaramucci is a “highly unstable nut job.”
“Anthony Scaramucci is a highly unstable ‘nut job’ who was with other candidates in the primary who got shellacked, & then, unfortunately, wheedled his way into my campaign,” the president said. “I barely knew him until his 11 days of gross incompetence-made a fool of himself, bad on TV. Abused staff, got fired. Wrote a very nice book about me just recently.
“Now the book is a lie? Said his wife was driving him crazy, ‘something big’ was happening with her. Getting divorced. He was a mental wreck. We didn’t want him around. Now Fake News puts him on like he was my buddy!”
To be sure, Scaramucci is in a full-on battle with Trump over who will get the last word, and maybe even the last laugh. Keep in mind, Election Day is still more than 16 months away.
“I am happy to continue taking incoming fire from @POTUS if it helps others muster the courage to speak up,” Scaramucci tweeted on Tuesday. “If you want to shun me, do it after we work together to root out this pernicious evil staining our great country.”
More must-read stories from Fortune:
—Will gaffes hurt Biden’s chances of a 2020 win? Strategists are divided
—Trump says the economy is doing great, but these economists fear recession by 2021
—What is BDS? Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions explained
—When does Congress reconvene? August recess, explained
—Trump thinks he is winning the trade war, but the data tell a different story
Get up to speed on your morning commute with Fortune’s CEO Daily newsletter.
