“Was I holding back a little too much?” Anthony Scaramucci facetiously asks after slamming Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. “I have a tendency to be a bit inhibited.”

His quip, in an exclusive Feb. 28 phone interview from Dubai with 401k Specialist, was prompted by a query about the populist gadfly’s presidential chances in 2020.

“She’s got no chance. I’ve got her at like zero, none,” the managing partner of alt RIA SkyBridge Capital adds in his trademark (sometimes too) blunt style. “When you’re super-sanctimonious and super-morally righteous like she is you’re actually out of touch with the average American.”

Calling it primarily a Christian-based nation, with people who view themselves as flawed, “when you’re walking around with this like super-level of sanctimony and righteousness, you can’t survive the Native American lies from your past.”

Trump, on the other hand, is known as a “super-flawed” individual with multiple ex-wives and a series of business mistakes.

“The American people will be very tolerant because you’re not marketing yourself out there with this righteousness and sanctimony,” he says. “But these establishment politicians shoot themselves in the foot because they’re trying to tell people how much better they are than the rest of us.”

It’s classic Scaramucci, an attitude he’s previously attributed to his Italian, working-class background—a native New Yorker not known to shy from a scrape.

Sometimes it’s serious, as with his infamous 11-day White House tenure; sometimes not, like when he was bounced by Celebrity Big Brother after only six nights.

But it’s always interesting—and entertaining—something he brings to SkyBridge’s annual SALT Conference, set for the Bellagio in Las Vegas, May 7-10, 2019.

SALT Conference

A convergence of business, politics and entertainment, past speakers and thought leaders include Biden, Bush and (Bill) Clinton, Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino, Maria Bartiromo, Donna Brazile, Kobe Bryant, Will Smith, Condoleezza Rice, Paul Ryan and many, many more.

This year features former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Mark Cuban, Gen. John Kelly, former National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Carlyle Group Co-Founder David Rubenstein, Obama Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Sam Zell and Steve Case.

“Obviously, we’re updating the schedule daily/weekly. We have a couple of more speakers we’re adding next week, and we’re hugely excited to get it back up and running. We’ve added a layer of venture capital and [artificial intelligence]. We’ve got to get our industry up to speed on AI. And we’ll have a smattering of crypto going on as well, because I think people in our industry, particularly if they’re my age, don’t really understand crypto.”

Asked about what he’s looking forward to this year, he—again—doesn’t disappoint.

“I mean, the first and most obvious thing is that John Kelly fired my butt on the 11th day I was in the White House,” Scaramucci says. “The fact that he and I were able to have a rapprochement and develop a relationship together, and he’s going to come out and I’ll get the opportunity to interview him on stage in front of a few thousand-plus people, it’s a multilayered story there.”

“We’re both Americans, both patriots, I get the fact that it was his job and I made a mistake and there are absolutely no hard feelings on my part and I assume on his part. So, we’re moving on and that’s a fun thing for me.”

He calls Nikki Haley a young superstar in the Republican Party and “it’s not a 2020 thing, but it could be a 2024 or 2028 thing where she runs for the presidency. So, I think she’s also an appealing person and she’ll have a lot to say about what’s going on around the world.”

Taking it “all the way to the other side” he mentions Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, discussing the aforementioned artificial intelligence specifically as it relates to China.

“I think it’s super-important for us to understand that the U.S. is actually behind on AI research. This is probably the first time in a macro-technological trend, where there’s a nation—in the last hundred years—that’s ahead of us technologically. I think that’s going to be another interesting point of view.”

He emphasizes the bipartisan nature of the conference, and the collection of macro and microeconomic policy advisors, politicians and cabinet members, and the tough issues it will tackle, like the “uneven distribution of prosperity,” more commonly known as income inequality.

“Let’s go away from left and right and more towards right and wrong. What are really the right things to do if we want to tighten up the social contract and make people feel like they’re able to participate in the growth of what’s going on?”

Which presents a natural opening for 401ks.

The president frequently mentions 401ks when referencing the strong economy. Has the savings vehicle become the new proxy for overall economic health, especially when communicating with “Main Street?”

“There’s no question. Here’s what I would say to you—it’s not just 401ks, it’s the S&P 500. The most important ‘poll’ that the president looks at on a daily basis is the S&P 500. When he’s tweeting about 401ks he knows that there’s a proclivity in 401ks, due to their long-term nature, to be predominantly in stocks. So, yes, it’s a proxy. It’s also an indication to him that if they’re up and doing well, which they have done over the last two years, that’s a good sign for his re-election prospects.”

Back to SALT, where he says he’s ultimately trying to put together a two-and-a-half-day event of people who he would like to meet, interact with and learn from.

“It’s an eclectic and an out-of-the-box mix,” Scaramucci concludes. “I think one of the bigger compliments about the event is guys like David Rubenstein or Mark Cuban like coming and repeat their visits, which is a sign that the direction we’re going in and what we’re doing is the right thing.”