Miles J. Herszenhorn
Anthony Scaramucci, a former White House communications director for ex-President Donald Trump, said on Monday that Trump is “stressed” about his indictment on federal charges and predicted the Republican frontrunner will eventually end his 2024 presidential campaign over his legal woes.
Trump surrendered to authorities in Miami on Tuesday, where he was arrested and arraigned in federal court. Trump’s attorney pleaded not guilty to 37 charges against the former president related to his alleged mishandling of federal documents seized from his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago.
Scaramucci, who served just 11 days as Trump’s communications director before he was fired by the former president, said he believes his old boss is concerned about the federal indictment.
“I know President Trump’s personality reasonably well. Remember it wasn’t just 11 days for me, it was 71 campaign stops and a full year’s worth of work,” Scaramucci said. “He does not like this, he is stressed about it.”
Scaramucci also said he thinks Trump will end his third presidential campaign before he can become the 2024 Republican nominee.
“I think he ends up eventually dropping out of the race,” Scaramucci said on NewsNation. “I don’t think he makes it to the Iowa caucus.”
Trump has repeatedly rejected that charges against related to the seizure of classified documents from Mar-a-Lago and the charges against him from Trump’s previous indictment in New York. Trump has also pledged to remain in the 2024 presidential race, despite facing multiple legal challenges.
While Scaramucci acknowledged that some Trump supporters will back the former president no matter what, he said there is currently an “opening” in the race for the 2024 Republican nomination.
“There’s more Republican criticism and that indictment is very damning,” Scaramucci said.
A USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll released Tuesday found that 34% of Republican and Independent voters said that Trump’s indictments make them less likely to support the former president in 2024. But the poll also found that 11% of Republican and Independent voters are more likely to support Trump due to his indictments.
Scaramucci became a vocal Trump after his dismissal from the White House, but he joins a growing number of officials from the Trump administration who have publicly stated that the federal charges against Trump should seriously concern the former president.
Bill Barr, who served as attorney general during the Trump presidency, said on Fox News Sunday that the indictment against Trump is “damning” and that “if even half of it is true, then he’s toast.”
