Anthony Scaramucci Offensive May See Reince Priebus Leave White House

UPDATED: 12:40 a.m.

President Donald Trump's chief of staff, Reince Priebus, was ousted from the White House Friday. He was replaced by Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. Though Trump announced Priebus' replacement in a tweet Friday afternoon, the outgoing chief of staff told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that he had privately resigned on Thursday itself.

The Friday cover of the New York Post pretty much summed up the ongoing war of attrition in the White House, and going by the attack launched by White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci on President Donald Trump's Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, it’s not hard to guess who is not likely to survive the unrest.

In an interview with the New Yorker, Scaramucci, who has vowed to “f---ing kill all leakers” to get the president’s agenda back on track, went after Priebus, accusing him of being behind the leaks.

“I fired one guy the other day. I have three to four people I'll fire tomorrow. I'll get to the person who leaked that to you. Reince Priebus — if you want to leak something — he'll be asked to resign very shortly… Reince is a f---ing paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac," Scaramucci told the New Yorker.

While there were no defenders for Priebus in the White House, one official, according to Politico, described the incident as a “bump in the road for Scaramucci,” saying “there was no expectation that Trump will be inflamed by it.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders even defended Scaramucci on Fox News on Thursday evening, saying, "This is a guy who sometimes uses colorful, and in many circles probably not appropriate language."

"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."

READ: Who Is Reince Priebus?

That none in the White House came forth to Priebus’ defence can only be ominous development for the chief of staff, who has seen his power base erode steadily with each passing day of the Trump administration.

He first lost his deputy Katie Walsh, who departed the administration in March, and then press secretary Sean Spicer, who resigned just after Scaramucci came onboard.

Meanwhile, Republicans watched warily as the feud escalated, with some defending Preibus and some asking Scaramucci to exercise caution.

House Speaker Paul Ryan threw his support behind his "close friend" Priebus during his weekly briefing, saying: "I think he's doing a great job as chief of staff."

Speaking on the Laura Ingraham radio show, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Scaramucci needs to “slow down and learn the business.”

"If he is going to be that divisive I'm not sure if he is going to be that useful to the president," Gingrich said. "I think Scaramucci is full of himself … frankly he is talking more than he is thinking. He needs to slow down and learn the business."

Talking to the press after being appointed the White House communications director last week, Scaramucci had called Priebus "a dear friend."

READ: Can Anthony Scaramucci Stop White House Leaks?

However, speaking to CNN New Day on Thursday morning, he seemed to have reviewed his equation with the chief of staff and described their relationship akin to “Cain and Abel.”

“Some brothers are like Cain and Abel, other brothers can fight with each other and get along, I don’t know if this is repairable or not,” Scaramucci said.

Though Scaramucci didn’t specify who was whom in this fight between “brothers,” the way he has gone after Priebus’ jugular leaves little doubt he identifies himself with Cain.

Correction, 8/1/17, 6:00 pm: This story originally referred to Paul Ryan as Majority Leader; he is Speaker of the House.