White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday that White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci's "explosive" and "colorful" remarks about fellow Trump administration staffers were not the focus of the administration.
Scaramucci called White House chief of staff Reince Priebus a "f**king paranoid schizophrenic," during a New Yorker interview published Thursday. In reference to White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, he said, "I'm not Steve Bannon, I'm not trying to suck my own c**k."
Sanders called some of Scaramucci's language "colorful" and "probably not appropriate" during a Fox News interview Thursday.
"This is a guy who sometimes uses colorful and, in many circles, probably not appropriate language," she said.
Scaramucci also acknowledged that he uses "colorful" language in a tweet Thursday evening.
I sometimes use colorful language. I will refrain in this arena but not give up the passionate fight for @realDonaldTrump's agenda. #MAGA
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 27, 2017
A short time later, he added that he "made a mistake in trusting a reporter."
I made a mistake in trusting in a reporter. It won't happen again.
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 28, 2017
The new White House communications director has "come out swinging from within the West Wing," publicly threatening to "fire everybody," Politico reported. He has publicly challenged Priebus to come forward and prove that he is not one of the senior officials leaking privileged administration information.
Despite the feud, Sanders maintained that the White House was focused on the American people rather than on who has a job at the White House.
"The bottom line is, most of us here at the White House are focused on who has a job out in America, not who has a job here," she said.
Sanders added that while some of Scaramucci's language was over the top, it was driven by his passion and commitment to Trump's agenda.
"He's very passionate about the president and the president's agenda, and I think he may have let that get the best of him in that conversation," Sanders said.