Story highlights Kara Alaimo: In his relatively short time on the Trump stage, it's clear that Scaramucci thinks power comes from packaging over policy

As citizens of a democracy, it's important that we not let ourselves get drawn in by the show, she writes

Kara Alaimo, an assistant professor of public relations at Hofstra University, is the author of "Pitch, Tweet, or Engage on the Street: How to Practice Global Public Relations and Strategic Communication." She was spokeswoman for international affairs in the Treasury Department during the Obama administration. Follow her on Twitter @karaalaimo. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) One of the jaw-dropping quotes that White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci recently gave the media was directed at press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

"The only thing I ask Sarah -- Sarah, if you're watching, I loved the hair and makeup person we had on Friday, so I'd like to continue to use the hair and makeup person," he said in a CNN interview last weekend.

Kara S. Alaimo

Scaramucci later tweeted that he was talking about his own makeup, not Huckabee's. Maybe so, but we are skeptical.

That is because it wasn't the first time that Scaramucci made this sort of bizarre comment, and has not been the last. After all, in his relatively short time on the Trump stage, the scrupulously groomed Scaramucci has already shown a strong grasp of his boss's tactics. Key among them: power comes from packaging over policy. Indeed, he appears cut from the same cloth in many ways.

Why does this matter? In his new role, Scaramucci's understanding of the power of appearances threatens to keep us reassured by a smoothly polished squad of front men (and a few front women) able to project competence and deflect attention from the President's failures to move the country forward.

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