Anthony Scaramucci’s foul-mouthed rant against his White House colleagues has provided a field day for wags and wits on social media.

Donald Trump’s new communications chief unleashed a barrage of invective at Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon during an interview with the New Yorker, with the chief of staff described as a “paranoid fucking schizophrenic” and the chief strategist accused of being rather too fond of himself. He also said he wanted to “kill all the leakers”.

Amid the political knockabout, there were also plenty of observers making the point that the remarks exposed starkly the divisions in the White House and could weaken or “degrade” the presidency.

But let’s start with David Axelrod, the former Obama adviser, who hoped that the former Wall Street banker would be kept away from the Boy Scouts. Others made hay with the colourful language used by the man who likes to be known as “The Mooch”.



One small suggestion to WH: After reading @Scaramucci interview with @RyanLizza, keep Mooch away from the Boy Scouts! — David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) July 27, 2017

I can't believe people haven't read Team of Rivals, William Seward used to talk about Salmon Chase performing autofellatio on the regular — Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 27, 2017

“I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own cock.” Our fact checkers have confirmed this statement as true. https://t.co/8L3Z8FYWqK pic.twitter.com/lai8bdrAho — The Onion (@TheOnion) July 27, 2017

I never thought I'd hear a member of Trump WH say-on record-that Steve Bannon blows himself.



I stand corrected.https://t.co/mH3gygGbUc — ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) July 27, 2017

The man himself issued a fairly prompt half-apology for his comments, which lifted the lid on the White House’s warring factions and appeared to undermine Scaramucci’s avowed efforts to limit the damaging stories about splits and disagreements in the administration. And after Ryan Lizza gratefully wrote up his remarks for the New Yorker story, Scaramucci also said he would not trust a reporter again.

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

I made a mistake in trusting in a reporter. It won't happen again. — Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 28, 2017

A conversation with Anthony Scaramucci... https://t.co/7TY64NfAWu — Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) July 27, 2017

Scaramucci comes across like Gordon Gekko, with pinstripe suits and mirror sunglasses, and his managerial style does appear to be straight out of the Wall Street playbook – a fact not missed on social media.

What if Scaramucci had all these public outbursts as a public-facing private sector employee, or as a woman, or as a person of color? — Sam Sanders (@samsanders) July 27, 2017

WH official: "This is getting out of hand. I am honestly getting concerned for my safety in the office tomorrow." https://t.co/6I4Sdn5tjZ — John Schindler (@20committee) July 28, 2017

You know who's definitely not a paranoiac -- people accusing their colleagues of felonies at the drop of a hat. No sir. — Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) July 27, 2017

One member of staff who was reportedly unperturbed by the outburst was Bannon.

same source says Bannon "didn't care" and basically laughed it off. — Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) July 27, 2017

But there is a serious element to some of the commentary. Former ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, urged the administration officials to “just stop” because it was bringing shame on America. And there were also plenty of suggestions that the chaos in the White House would further weaken the administration as it tries to deal with a range of foreign policy issues.

I am so tired of people like Scaramucci bringing shame to our White House & our great country. Stop. Just stop. https://t.co/hepqzkfI9c — Michael McFaul (@McFaul) July 28, 2017

Laura Ingraham ripping into Scaramucci right now: "This episode is humiliating to the president" — Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) July 28, 2017

US intel officials tell me they’re worried the chaos at WH leaves US in weak position to deal with any potential major int crisis — Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) July 27, 2017

The case for the defence is that he just let his passion get the best of him (Sarah Huckabee Sanders).

Sanders: Scaramucci let passion 'get the best of him' on Priebus, Bannon remarks https://t.co/6fliDbQPIl pic.twitter.com/UhetEXC69f — POLITICO (@politico) July 27, 2017

The New York Times has tweeted that the editorial chiefs had a discussion to decide whether it was “proper” to publish Scaramucci’s profanities. They did.

NYT published Scaramucci’s profanity after top editors, including Dean Baquet, discussed whether it was proper 1/3 https://t.co/lNnwqBRqD5 pic.twitter.com/DPBWsEi2fQ — Clifford Levy (@cliffordlevy) July 27, 2017

Meanwhile, Breitbart hits back.

Breitbart going to war over the Mooch pic.twitter.com/WEcjVM1E8Q — Jon Passantino (@passantino) July 28, 2017

A last word.