BY NEIL GRASSO
Asst. News Editor
Former White House Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci paid a visit to Sacred Heart University on Mon., Feb. 18, to speak with students and faculty members.
Scaramucci was introduced by Executive Director of Athletics and close friend Bobby Valentine.
Members of the crowd gathered in the Martire Theatre to watch a short preview of Scaramucci’s documentary, titled “Mooch,” before listening to a short interview conducted by the Dean of the Jack Welch College of Busines, Dr. John Chalykoff.
Students and faculty members then had the opportunity to engage in a question and answer segment with the man who many today recognize simply as “The Mooch.”
During the interview segment with Dean Chalykoff, Scaramucci discussed his early life, his background as the founder of the Skybridge Capital hedge fund, and his interactions with former president Barack Obama.
He also provided the crowd with a recap of his infamous 11-day stint as White House Director of Communications for current president Donald Trump.
“It was 11 days, not 10 – I want people to know that,” joked Scaramucci. “I don’t want people cutting 9.2% off of my total time in office.”
Scaramucci detailed his contributions to the investigation of former White House Chief of Staff Reince Prebius. He publicly accused Prebius of leaking confidential information concerning the President in a phone interview with The New Yorker in July of 2017.
Scaramucci also emphasized his distaste with the current state of the political spectrum.
“I think that as a whole, we are too focused on left versus right, whereas we should be focused on right versus wrong,” said Scaramucci.
Scaramucci answered questions regarding Trump’s Twitter usage, Trump’s chances to be reelected in 2020, and his personal investment strategy moving forward.
“You’ll notice Trump uses these nicknames for opposing candidates to create very strong first impression images. They were very effective during the campaign,” said Scaramucci on Trump’s Twitter strategy. “However, I disagree with his modern usage of the platform today.”
Scaramucci went on to state his personal belief that Trump had good chances heading into the 2020 election based on the current state of the American economy.
“Historically speaking, unseating a president in a rising economy is nearly impossible,” said Scaramucci.
“I thought it was a really interesting to hear someone that seemed to have a neutral political perspective,” said Connor McLaughlin, a sophomore business management major.
“Before the talk, I expected it to be very hateful toward Donald Trump. However, I instead learned a lot about the campaign and how Trump used social media to win the election. Overall, it was very informative.”
“I was very intrigued during the question and answer portion,” said Robert Glidden, a sophomore sports management major. “It was cool to see The Mooch give us some insight into his personal economic beliefs as well as some of his first-hand experiences with members of Wall Street and White House personnel.”
The first 50 students to arrive at the event received a copy of Scaramucci’s latest book, titled Trump, The Blue-Collared President. A book signing and short meet and greet followed the event, where students took pictures with and got the chance to speak directly with “The Mooch.”
