Story highlights
Scaramucci wanted to try to fix relations with the media
First on his to-do list was to meet with incoming chief of staff John Kelly
Anthony Scaramucci – before his tenure as White House communications director came to an abrupt end – had plans to make sweeping changes to the Trump administration’s communications team, a July 30 memo shows.
Scaramucci sent CNN the document. It was first published by right-wing media personality Mike Cernovich on Medium.
First on Scaramucci’s to-do list was to meet with incoming White House chief of staff John Kelly, who instead on Monday delivered the news to Scaramucci that he was being asked to step aside.
Scaramucci would have directed the communications team to try to improve relations with the press, the memo shows. “POTUS can choose to fight with the media, but Comms cannot,” says the memo, which Scaramucci had planned to send to members of the White House team.
The document floated the idea of a “complaint box” for members of the media to air their grievances.
Scaramucci had big ideas to produce more positive content from the White House so the communications team would spend a smaller portion of its resources responding to negative stories. He suggested the President place frequent op-eds in newspapers, do “modernized fireside chats” with Cabinet members and take questions from citizens on livestreams.
Scaramucci’s memo also shows he would have made efforts to “humanize” the President.
“For example, POTUS is the best golfer to serve as President,” the document reads. “Perhaps, we embrace it with a national online lottery to play a round of golf with him … or a charity auction. POTUS has a funny and irreverent side which was shared with the electorate during the campaign.”