Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) criticized President Trump's new White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci on Thursday, characterizing his public criticism of chief of staff Reince Priebus as "unhelpful."

In an interview with radio host Laura Ingraham, Gingrich ripped Trump's new press aide as "full of himself" after Scaramucci called in to CNN and seemed to blame a series of high-profile leaks on Priebus.

"I think Scaramucci is full of himself, I think he got down here from New York and he is all excited," Gingrich told Ingraham. "Frankly, he is talking more than he is thinking. He needs to slow down and learn the business."

Gingrich challenged Scaramucci to show some proof that Priebus was behind the leaks, calling his interview on CNN "divisive" and "unhelpful."

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"If he said them, where is his proof?" Gingrich asked. "I mean it’s totally unhelpful having someone going around starting family fights in public, and if he is going to be that divisive, I’m not sure if he is going to be that useful to the president."

Scaramucci's attacks on Priebus weren't limited to the CNN interview. In a now-deleted tweet posted Wednesday night, Scaramucci tagged the chief of staff and warned that he would be contacting the Justice Department over the leak of his financial disclosure form to the press.

"In light of the leak of my financial disclosure info which is a felony. I will be contacting [FBI] and the [Justice Department]," Scaramucci wrote on Twitter.

In a second tweet, Scaramucci said that his initial interpretation was "wrong" and that he wanted to put leakers on notice that all senior administration officials were helping to end illegal leaks.

"I think that Scaramucci had better be a lot more careful than he has been," Gingrich said. "He obviously likes the limelight, he obviously likes being in the media."

"I would say right now he is being more pugnacious than effective," he said.

Gingrich concluded by advising Scaramucci that not all publicity is good publicity. Useful news coverage, Gingrich explains, is rarer in Washington.

"This is a city where if you are in the White House you get plenty of news coverage," Gingrich said. "The question is whether or not it is useful news coverage or whether or not it gets you to where you want to go."