oul-mouthed spin doctor Anthony Scaramucci was axed as White House communications director Monday, just 10 days after being named to the post and hours after Donald Trump installed a new chief of staff.
The 53-year-old New Yorker -- whose profanity-laden rant against colleagues gained him global notoriety -- was fired as four-star general John Kelly began his quest to impose order on an administration careening out of control.
During its first six months in office, Trump's White House has been beset by scandal, investigations, infighting, leaks, sackings, resignations, stinging legislative defeats and historically low approval ratings.
Scaramucci was brought in a little over a week ago to get the White House back on message, but quickly prompted negative headlines of his own.
He publicly called then colleague and chief of staff Reince Priebus -- who was forced out last week -- a "paranoid schizophrenic" and denounced chief White House strategist Steve Bannon in lurid sexual terms.
The White House refused to say whether it was Trump or Kelly who precipitated Scaramucci's shock departure, but it seems clear that both were unhappy with his presence.
"The president firmly felt that Anthony's comments were inappropriate for a person in that position," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Sanders added that everyone in the West Wing -- including Scaramucci -- reported to Kelly, a return to tradition for a White House that has been anything but.
"General Kelly has the full authority to operate within the White House, and all staff will report to him," said Sanders. "That includes everybody at the White House."
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