David Jolly & Anthony Scaramucci are Cooking in the Political Kitchen on MUCK YOU!

David B. Wheeler: 00:00:07

Hey, folks, this is David Wheeler. Welcome back to Muck U. My good friend co host Mo Davis is going to introduce our special guest today. Take it, Mo.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:00:17

Well, thank you. And it's a real honor to have now a candidate. He wasn't a candidate last time he was on. David Jolly is back with us.

And a couple of things have changed since you were on before. One is you're running for office, and number two, you're officially a Democrat. So welcome to the team.

Rep. David Jolly: 00:00:37

Yeah, well, thank you, Mo. I appreciate that. Listen, I am a Democrat running for governor of the state of Florida.

mocrats can win in Florida in: 2026

And, and maybe for those who are allied with the Democratic Party, these are the races we should look at. We are in the midst of a national change environment right now.

Arguably, next year would be the sixth year of a president with numbers who are underwater. People are still suffering from an economic crisis. So we're in a change environment. And in Florida, we have a real affordability crisis.

And so this is a governorship race where we are talking about property insurance, property taxes, safe communities, investing in public education. Right. Issues that matter at the moment for voters in Florida.

Maybe they're a little different than voters in Michigan, California, Texas and otherwise. But understand, if we focus on fixing the affordability crisis in Florida by applying Democratic values, I see three values.

An economy that works for all people. A government that actually efficiently provides services to people.

Our seniors, our veterans, those in need, those who need quality, excellent public education.

So an economy for all people, a government that works, and finally, a state that lifts everybody up, regardless of where you were born, the color of your skin, who you love, who you worship. Those are the core values.

If we provide those values to attack the affordability crisis in Florida, the issues that matter to Florida voters, we'll win this next November. And what we will do is we will reset political power not just in Florida, but arguably nationally going into the 28 presidential cycle.

Notice, Mo, nothing I just said, nothing I just said has anything to do with Donald Trump. My opponent on the other side of the aisle is already trying to make this race about Donald Trump.

He just cannot talk about the affordability crisis or schools or property insurance or property taxes. He's got to make it about Donald Trump. If he does that. But we focus on the voters, on the issues that matter to them right now, we'll win this thing.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:02:44

Are you referring to Byron?

Rep. David Jolly: 00:02:45

Dornan Iron Donald's right. He actually came out shortly after I announced the next day. He said, look, I know Florida, Florida wants more of the same. No, we don't. No, we don't.

This is a lived experience for my wife and I with a 6 year old and 4 year old. We are testing the question next November, do you want change or do you want more of the same? We believe people want change.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:03:06

Well, I guess some of the others on the Republican side are, I guess Casey DeSantis is thinking about it, Matt Gaetz, that, you know, quite a cast of characters on the other, on the other side, you know, any preference on, on who you'd prefer?

Rep. David Jolly: 00:03:21

No. Look, the more the merrier. I mean, I think in many ways Republican politics to that today help our argument on behalf of change right there.

There are not enough, excuse me, Democratic registered voters in Florida to elect a Democratic governor just by themselves. We need a coalition of voters who want change.

And so if we are in a change environment in the midst of a state affordability crisis, do you want Donald Trump's handpicked candidate and Byron Donald, do you want a third term of Ron DeSantis? Do you want Matt Gaetz? That's more of the same. That's more of the same.

We are offering a coalition, a coalition bigger than a candidate that actually just wants change.

Return us to an economy for all people, solve the affordability crisis, give dignity to everybody across the state and put an end to the culture wars while we're at it, invest in public education, stop fighting communities and just start fighting crime. We can do all that on our side of the ticket. The other side will have to explain to voters what they're fighting for.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:04:23

I used to live in Florida and it's an interesting state with really three distinct regions. You know, the Panhandle, the central part of the state, and then down in South Florida. So what's your plan?

How are you going to hit those three parts and get your message across?

Rep. David Jolly: 00:04:39

Yeah, I love that question, Mo, because I would say this in Florida, but also nationally, Democrats have to go into places we haven't gone in a long time. You know, I've been doing town halls across the state. Somebody stood up and said the last time a Democrat was in this hall, it was Lawton Chiles.

We have to be able to go into. Now, look, we lead with Democratic values, right? I disagree with Democratic leaders who say we have to change our values, our positions. No, we don't.

We need to amplify them. We need to amplify them in communities where we haven't done before.

So that means sitting with the faith community saying, I'm a Democrat because I believe in values that lift everybody up. And I think that better aligns with the faith teachings, whatever faith. That is the basics, right?

We have to go to gun owner communities and say, I realize gun owners aren't the problem, but our gun laws are. And if we strengthen gun violence prevention in the state of Florida, we're going to save your kids just like we're going to save ours.

We have to go into the ag community and say, your labor markets are tight because of the governor's policies.

We want to create a pathway in Florida for immigrants to continue to support our economy and support our culture so that we can celebrate their contributions to the state. But we also have to be Democrats who are willing to go into the Cuban American, Venezuelan American communities in South Florida.

And what hasn't happened in a long time, Mo, Democrats have to denounce socialism and communism and say capitalism provides the most opportunity for people. But we are the party that's going to fight for fair capitalism that actually lifts everybody up. And guess what?

If it breaks down for you, we're also the party that recognizes you still need access to quality health care, to income security and to an education for your kids. That's our party. Those are our values as Democrats.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:06:20

Listen, I think it's great that Democrats have a quality, credible candidate running. So I, I really appreciate you stepping up and doing it. So, you know, how can, how can folks help out? Where can they get more information?

Where, where can they contribute to help you win Florida?

Rep. David Jolly: 00:06:36

Sure, Mo, you know, I'm a candidate if I've got a website. Davidjoli.com davidjoli.com but listen, if you can support us financially, please do.

If you can sign up to volunteer, maybe you're in Florida or you'll be coming to Florida, please do that. Of course, everything helps. Here's the, here's what I'm asking people to truly do.

Believe, believe, believe that this is a cycle where we can create change. I had to ask that question to myself and my wife did as well before we got into this race.

We believe In Florida in 26, a coalition led by a Democratic nominee for governor, and win the race. And when we do, we will bring change not just to the state, but to national politics. Start by believing.

And, and I bet if you do some soul searching, you already do.

Most people who are following your podcast who are engaged in politics, paying attention every day, they're doing it because they know change is possible. So start by believing, believing that we can change the direction of the state and the country.

And then if you have an opportunity to do more, to chip in some money, great. Please do.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:07:39

Davidjoli.com I've got to ask this question. If Byron Donalds is running for governor, is. Is my old friend Madison Cawthorn going to run for that seat?

Rep. David Jolly: 00:07:51

Oh, you know, I don't know. I don't. Look, I, I've been out of Republican politics long enough. They don't invite me into the family conversations.

David B. Wheeler: 00:07:57

Yeah. And I'm for you, David.

Rep. David Jolly: 00:07:58

Some of the Democratic ones always thought.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:08:02

It was fair because Florida gave us Mark Meadows. So we've given you guys Madison Cawthorns. I think the score is even.

David B. Wheeler: 00:08:09

Yeah, I'd be surprised if he didn't jump in there. But you know, the interesting.

There's parallels between, between our governor's race and I don't want to just highlight the color of skin, but, you know, we had a really terrific guy in Josh Stein who won against Mark Robinson.

And I think Mark Robinson is very similar to Byron Donaldson down there in south southwest Florida in that he has no experience, no agenda, and is really just in this probably for the money and the fame and has no vocation in politics or public service. So let's hope, let's hope your race goes the same way as that race did up here in North Carolina.

Rep. David Jolly: 00:08:58

Look, I, I would say too many Republican leaders today, Stoke Division, engage in kind of gutter politics, if you will. Right. They. I'm not even sure Byron Donalds believes half of what he said about me since I got in the race in a few days. It's just reflexive.

And I think too many Republican politicians invite controversy. Right. There's, There's a lot of hypocrisy. People say, oh, Jolly's changed. Yeah, I have. I definitely have changed.

I think a lot of voters have changed, and that's part of the strength of our candidacy. You know who else has also changed? Republicans.

I mean, the party I used to belong to was for less government, for fiscal discipline and personal liberty.

Now they're exploding the debt and deficits with this major tax bill that I'm sure Representative Donalds will support, therefore, for putting politicians in your classrooms, in your doctor's offices and in your bedrooms.

And so I think Republican leaders today, including Byron Donalds, probably Casey Desantis, maybe Matt Gaetz, will see they've got to justify how they've changed as well, because their positions are unrecognizable to traditional Republican values, but also to the values that most voters want, regardless of their political affiliation.

This is a campaign where if our coalition that I have an opportunity to lead fights for an economy for all people, attacks the affordability crisis, says government should work for you, but most importantly, you're welcome in the state of Florida.

You know, Republican leaders today, including some of the language of Byron Donalds and others, they only want certain Florida families to be lifted up. I want all of Florida's families to be lifted up. If that's our contrast going into next November, let's have that contrast.

I love that convers because we're going to win this race.

David B. Wheeler: 00:10:36

That's great, David. And this happy warrior attitude of yours, or your personality, your, your view of life, I think goes a long way.

I can feel how excited you are about this race. How's it going so far?

Rep. David Jolly: 00:10:51

Good, except I've lost my voice in the first week. Look, this is a, this is a change environment, right?

If you look at some of the reasons why Vice President Harris lost, there certainly were many, but one is too many Democrats stayed home. That's not happening right now. Democrats are turning out. We're seeing it in special elections, we're seeing it in town halls. There's an enthusiasm.

But now we're also seeing the buyer's remorse from many Republicans, including some of our immigrant communities who supported Donald Trump, who said, wait a minute, I didn't sign up for the cruelty of the immigration policy. I didn't sign up for the broken promises. I didn't think you were talking about my family.

But now we're seeing through Governor DeSantis and others, this attack on the immigrant community, and they attack a community and then go looking for crime. But I also think we're seeing independents say, look, it's just time for a change. And that's the coalition. This is a coalition election.

We are going to win this race because there are more voters in Florida that want change than want more of the same. Let's have that conversation because watch out, watch out. We're going to win it when that happens.

David B. Wheeler: 00:11:56

Yeah. I think the immigrant community in Florida has got to be woken up. And it sounds like Trump's Latinas for Trump.

State senator down there is voicing her for a Republican, is voicing her dismay with how they are treating immigrants.

Rep. David Jolly: 00:12:19

So, David, let me share something.

David B. Wheeler: 00:12:21

Yeah, go ahead.

Rep. David Jolly: 00:12:22

Yeah, let me, let me share something with you, because one thing I want to do in this campaign is, is have a national conversation where I think Republicans and Conservative media have gotten away for too long with conflating immigration and crime. I want to extract decouple crime and immigration. We can be the Democratic Party that is tough on crime, but lift up communities.

I think too many Republican leaders have started fighting communities and then they go looking for crime. We know statistically there's a higher propensity of violent and crimes in native born communities than there are in our immigrant communities.

So let's start fighting crime.

We can be the party that says if you were born here, if you came here from another country or another state, or if you're a Republican politician stealing money from the Medicaid program, we're going to enforce the law, we're going to investigate it, we're going to prosecute it. We can be tough on crime, but lift up communities. I don't think that's what we're seeing from Republican leaders right now.

Yes, that matters in Florida, but I think that matters as a national conversation as well for Democrats to start having.

David B. Wheeler: 00:13:20

You got it. All right, folks, go to davidjolly.com please. As my, one of my employers used to say, give till it hurts, please.

I can say that David's not going to, but please do give what you can@davidjolly.com it's important that he gets some early money to get things rolling. He can show some, show some strength. Early money is very important to candidates.

So again, I encourage you to donate and send, send David a positive note as well when you make that donation. And this has been a special from mucu. Our friend, good friend, David Jolly in Florida is running for governor. And we appreciate you coming on David.

Rep. David Jolly: 00:14:09

Hey, thank you, David.

Rep. David Jolly: 00:14:10

Thank you, Mo.

Rep. David Jolly: 00:14:10

Appreciate it.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:14:11

Absolutely.

Jimmy Muckraker: 00:14:15

Up next on MUCK YOU is Anthony Scaramucci, live from New York.

David B. Wheeler: 00:14:21

Welcome to the Muck you podcast produced by American Muckrakers. Let's roll up our sleeves and dive into the mess to uncover the truth.

I'm your co host David Wheeler and here to stir the pot, bring the energy and keep things real. Let me hand it off to my co host, the one and only Colonel Mo Davis. Take it away.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:14:38

Yeah. Thanks, David. And thanks to all of you for joining in again on another episode of MUCK you.

I'm coming to you today from down the eastern part of the state, Southern Pines, right outside of Pinehurst where it is extraordinarily hot and humid. So makes me miss being up in the mountains. But another great guest today.

Join us and a real honor to have Anthony Scaramucci with us who is a graduate of Tufts University and Harvard Law School, had a very successful career at Goldman Sachs, started SkyBridge Capital, was serving as a senior vice president at the XM bank when he became a member of the. The Trump administration. So he's a prolific author. Anthony, I think you have, what, seven books out and another one on the way.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:15:30

Seven books. Yeah, I like writing. I like reading and writing, Colonel.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:15:34

Yeah, well, you're also. You're also a very. We appreciate you taking time to do our podcast, because I think you've got three going yourself.

You have what open book that you do yourself. You got. The rest is politics, us with, you know, one of my favorite journalists, Caddy K and Lost Boys with Scott Galloway.

And I'll be honest, I hadn't heard of Scott until a few months ago, but, boy, I'm really impressed with him. So you've got quite the array of podcasts.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:16:00

Yeah, he said, listen, he's a terrific guy. Caddy, of course, I agree with you. She's not only one of my favorite journalists, he's one of my favorite people.

I mean, not to dominate the conversation, but just quickly.

I did not know Caddy when we started that podcast, and so we were put together sort of on a blind date for the podcast, and it's been 15 months of doing it, and it's been a lot of fun.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:16:25

We. You lucked out. I mean, I've seen Caddy, and she's pretty. Pretty. I'm stuck with David Hoyler. So I'm. Yeah, you got the veteran.

David B. Wheeler: 00:16:34

I resemble. I resemble that remark.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:16:37

That's why you guys have an audio podcast.

David B. Wheeler: 00:16:41

Exactly. Y. Yeah, we switched off your video, man.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:16:44

Right.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:16:44

And the reason why I have an audio and video podcast has nothing to do with me. I'll just leave.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:16:49

I gotcha. Hey, listen, you. You kind of had an interesting transformation. You.

You were a supporter of Barack Obama, started out as a supporter of Hillary Clinton, and then I think, you know, really sprung into the spotlight with. With Donald Trump. How did you make that. That transformation?

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:17:07

So, you know, sometimes what happens is when people are trying to form a narrative about you, they.

They go into your Wikipedia page and they dent your page, and they put some truth information out there and some mistruths, and they try to tie it back to stories and. And so forth.

this is probably in the year: 2000

I had worked for Mayor Giuliani. I had worked for Governor Pataki. I had a good relationship with Andrew Cuomo. Still do, trying to support him for mayor.

But, but I, I was never really in the. On the presidential side.

Barack Obama was a classmate of mine from law school, and let me, let me be precise, he was exactly two years behind me in law school, but we knew each other. He was running for president, asked me for a donation, and I remember thinking to myself, well, I'm never going to meet a president.

I must just give this guy some money. So I gave him money. Turned out I went to more Barack Obama Christmas parties than Donald Trump.

But, But I've been a lifelong Republican, so those two donations, you know, people try to characterize me as a flip flopper and all this other stuff, and I get all that. But I had. You could find me on Mitt Romney's donor list, George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, etc. Lifelong Republican. When Jeb came out of the race, Mr.

Trump, President Trump, but it was Mr. Trump back then, asked me to join his campaign. I agreed to do so.

We surprisingly, and I always say surprisingly to everyone, including Donald Trump, we won the election. He then named me to the presidential executive team, the transition team. I helped to build a cabinet, didn't go into the government.

Six months into the government, a lot of crazy things happening. He called me and he asked me to come down to Washington, see him, and he offered me a job.

He was trying to get rid of Priebus and Bannon, and he offered me a job and I took it. And that was another big mistake for me, frankly. But anyway, I did take the job. I got my ego involved.

I got my, you know, I tell my kids, get your ego and your pride out of your decision making, because if you can do that, you'll make better decisions. If you can't do that, you could end up making a disastrous or catastrophic decision. But I did it. I went to go work for him.

My wife hates Trump almost as much as Melania hates him. And so that's, That's a very high bar of hatred. Okay.

You know, because when you get hate from the Eastern Europeans, it's incredible amount of hatred. But anyway, I went to go work for him. We were fighting in the White House. We disagreed on a couple of issues.

Some of this was procedural, frankly, Some of it was constitutional. Somebody paid me a compliment the other day.

I guess it Was a compliment because, you know, I, I went through all your tapes while you were the White House. You didn't lie for the President? I said, no, I did not lie for the President. Was I asked to? Yes, I was. But I didn't.

And a result of which, 11 days after I was hired, I got fired. You know, I got tossed around. Guys, you know, you want to talk about getting mucked?

I was thrown into Pennsylvania Avenue, lit up by all the late night comedians torched on Saturday Night Live. Every cable news pundit had an opinion of me, which was negative. 40 newspapers internationally put me on the front page and with a. As you know.

And you know how they do this, they try to find that one picture of you where you look like a complete imbecile. And then that's the one that they drive, because that's the real head turner, you know, that's the real click baiter, if you will.

And you know, it was a difficult time, frankly, after I got fired, but I, I stayed loyal to President Trump. People don't remember that. My attitude was I wasn't going to be a crybaby complainer. I got fired. I took it like a man.

Two years later, some of the antics were reprehensible. I think I said on the Bill Maher Show, I wish he wouldn't say that.

The women of the squad, these four women in the House of Representatives, should go back to the countries they originally came from, which is literally the quote he put up on Twitter. And he had started attacking me for saying that, and it was really that simple.

And you know, David, before we started this podcast, you said this is right up your alley because you're a Long Island New Yorker.

Well, it is right up my alley, but one of the other things about me is I am from New York and I think by the end of this podcast, you guys will realize I'm not Ted Cruz. I'm not gonna kiss Trump's ass after he starts attacking my wife. And so he started attacking my wife, which is what he does.

eal fight started. He lost in: 2020

He's incredibly dishonest. It's not the lying. Every politician lies, but what I told is it's deep layers of dishonesty which are blended in with amorality.

It's like a Carvel swirl of disloyalty and amorality and dishonesty.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:22:47

Yeah, I'm curious.

Folks who listen to the podcast know that when I joined the Air Force back in the 80s, my first courtroom experience, my opponent was a young captain from South Carolina named Lindsey Graham.

And so I've known Lindsay 40 plus years and worked with him and John McCain when I was the chief prosecutor for the terrorism trials down at Guantanamo. And you know, they were the two pushing back against the Bush administration for their abusive executive authority.

And you know, he clearly knows better, but he's made the calculation that it's in his benefit to, to go along.

How do you explain so many people that, you know, points in their careers, showed integrity that have just are in the tank now for, for the Trump administration.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:23:36

Some of it's fear, some of it's fear, retribution and fear. I think in Lindsay's click case, I know him reasonably well. I, I've been on his donor list.

He's a lonely guy, let's just call him lonely for the sake of this conversation. And he's a guy that doesn't have a lot going on other than the power base that he's created.

And I think he realized that without Trump's help, he wasn't going to stay in that power base. The party shifted. It moved away from the old John McCain, Mitt Romney, the, you know, George W. Bush sort of party.

And so Graham made the decision that he was gonna kowtow to Trump. You know, I think John McCain would probably be spinning in his grave, frankly, if he knew what Lindsay was doing right now.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:24:25

Yeah, I think it almost seemed like when McCain died that, you know, Lindsay lost his conscience.

And you know, some folks, I think they're just, you know, ignorant and got sucked into this whole MAGA thing, but they're people like him that clearly know better and have made the deliberate choice. Hey, let me ask you, you're, you're on the Council for Foreign, Council on Foreign Relations. I'm, I'm involved with a group called the U.

S Global Leadership Coalition which I think are, you know, kind of like minded organization. They believe in diplomacy and foreign policy and engagement and that kind of thing. What's your take on, you know, the, the current.

Because, you know, you said the Republican Party was big on, you know, we're loyal to our allies, we were engaged around the globe, you know, free trade. What's caused this shift and what's your take on it?

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:25:18

Well, you said something about conscience and having a conscience. You know, some people can fake having one but don't really have one. Right. So I think that's Lindsey Graham.

I think he put up a facade of having a conscience.

You know, there's no way you could have a guy who's got this level of indictments, this level of criminal convictions, this level of malevolence, this level of stupidity, abject stupidity on economic policy, abject stupidity on diplomacy in terms of how to handle our allies or even our adversaries. And a guy that is, you know, Putin obviously has something on him.

I don't know what it is, but he obviously has something on him because why would you be kowtowing to Vladimir Putin, especially at this time in our international history? So, so to me, I would say to you that Trump decapitated the former Republican Party. That party does not exist anymore.

You know, Colonel, the Rhinos are the MAGA people that call themselves Republicans. They're the Republicans in name only, not me. A RINO is Donald Trump. The party really should be renamed the MAGA Party.

They decapitated the Republican Party and they installed themselves from the top down into that party. And so now that old party is sort of in exile, that party that you're talking about. So, so this ideology is a populist ideology.

It's not conservatism if it fits Trump's needs to put in some conservative judges, or if it's Trump's needs to signal pro business and then be ridiculously tariffing everybody, which is a great contradiction. Whatever fits his needs, he will do. You know, it's, it's a politics and ideology of the personality with very little to do with predictable policy.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:27:25

Yeah, well, I'm, I'm, I'm curious as well. You know, you're, like, you mentioned, you were acquainted with Obama from Harvard as a Harvard grad.

What's your, what's your take on this assault on Harvard in particular, but universities in general?

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:27:43

So, you know, I'm, I, I don't like what the President is doing.

I think it's a big mistake to pull research grants and defense grants, and every person that I know is a byproduct, a beneficiary of US Government funded research. I'll just talk about myself for a second.

lvania and they discovered in: 2002

But if we, if we're going to cut the NIH grants, that future drug that some family will need, guys, is not going to be available. So I wholeheartedly disagree with what President Trump is doing.

However, I went to Harvard and I went to Tufts University, and these schools have ideologically radicalized, they have strained out, removed, canceled. You can use the word canceled, Cleared out any conservative voices, any even middle of the road moderate voices.

There is an orientation program at Tufts where if you're a white male, they want you to have six hours of education, learning about your privilege and learning about the fact that you have to be sensitive and potentially kowtow to other groups because those groups were disadvantaged over the last several hundred years and your group wasn't. I don't know. I don't agree with that stuff. I'm sorry, I can't get my arms around that stuff.

I cannot get my arms around Jewish men and women, students at Harvard being physically threatened with violence, physically threatened with violence. Some from their colleagues and their adjoining students, others from professional protesters that have descended on the campus.

It is private property, guys. They could be thrown off the canvas.

You know, they're not paying students on the private property, but yet they, they're allowed to threaten Jewish men and women who are students to the point where they're locked in their dorm rooms or locked in buildings, fearing their safety. I don't agree with it. And I, and I, I don't think that we should allow that with our, our taxpayer money.

So I would, I would have left the grants in place, left the NIH stuff in place. But I would have said to these universities, you got to get to the middle.

You got to try to make at least the administration of these universities less partisan. I'm all for free speech. If you want to protest what Israel's doing in the war, I understand that you have the right to peaceful protest.

You do not have the right in the country to incite violence or harm other people as a result of your political opinion. So, you know, some people like my opinion on this, some people don't.

But I think canceling the funding is a horrific mistake and it'll have consequences to our innovation, our health care system, and a whole host of other things. Defense specifically.

David B. Wheeler: 00:31:27

Well, let's switch gears a little bit and talk about the Democrats.

One of the reasons Mo and I wanted you to on the program was I listened to your conversation with John Heilman, and, you know, you're a very thoughtful person. I could tell Obviously intelligent and, and you've got a, a connection to who you are and, and where you're from. It just seems to me that.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:31:56

The.

David B. Wheeler: 00:31:57

Democrats would be morons if they didn't welcome a guy like you into the party in some way, even just on the periphery. Has, has that ever crossed your mind to become a Democrat or, or even run for office?

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:32:12

You know, I'm a very upfront guy. Yes, it has crossed my mind, but I can't become a Democrat because I'm not welcome in the party. And, and why am I not welcome in the party?

I once worked for Donald Trump, so there's a good portion of the party that believes that I should be canceled because I once worked for Donald Trump. Okay. You have the right to, to say that to me. You have the right to cancel me if that's what you want to do.

I worked with the Vice President's team in preparation for her debate. I also went to Philadelphia at the invitation of the campaign to help her at the debate and then help in the spin room. Gavin Newsom.

I were in the spin room together, you know, fortifying the arguments that she made in the debate. They were very happy. Obviously, I think everybody objectively feels she won that debate.

There were several people I would call the centrists that wanted me to go on the campaign plane with her. There were hard left people that said, under no circumstances. Under no circumstances. And so they wouldn't let me go on the campaign plane with her.

The Democrats are the best thing that has ever happened to Donald Trump. If you said, how did Donald Trump become president, it's because of the Democrats. It's Democratic losses as opposed to his victories.

y, yet they told Joe Biden in: 2016

ational Convention in July of: 2016

Jimmy Carter didn't do that to Ted Kennedy, but they did that to the other Democrats that wanted to run against Joe Biden, some of which felt that Joe Biden was impaired and cognitively impaired. They knocked Bobby Kennedy out of the party, Tulsi Gabbard out of the party, and they blew Elon Musk out of the party.

So it's a party that is fighting with itself. It's a party that's more focused on the picky un of policies and does not want to focus on the overarching purpose.

And guys, I think they'll lose to Trump if they keep this up because like or dislike him, he is the general Napoleon of the culture war.

He sees the battlefield better than anybody in the culture war and he knows how to trigger them, he knows how to send them on wild goose chases, et cetera.

If they would invite somebody like me into their party, I think I could really help them because I understand the game plan of these other people and I also understand the narrative.

And by the way, I think it's a more popular narrative, the counter narrative to their approach, which I think would go on are way more support and way more votes. So, and just remember this, I want to close on this.

They, they not only botched all of that, they lied to the American people, tried to keep Joe Biden in place. He was sunsetting when they, when they couldn't keep him in place.

Rather than having a mini primary which would have been quote unquote pro democracy, they anointed the vice president. Nice person, but they only gave her 107 days to make the case against the most famous person on the planet. So listen, it's a frustrating thing.

I'm sorry it was so long winded, but I wanted to be comprehensive with that one.

David B. Wheeler: 00:36:15

No, no, no, listen, you've got two friends here that, well, new friends that couldn't agree with you more. Man, we are sick and tired of the party. We've been ostracized by our own party.

You know, I restarted the Iowa Young Democrats when I was 17 years old. I've been around. I was, I helped Jimmy Carter's campaign in Iowa, folks.

And you get no credit for any of that hard work earlier in your life in this party of today, no question. Who, who would you. And listen, you're. I'm a naming name guys naming names kind of guy. Who would you fault if, if you want to name names?

I don't want to put you on.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:36:55

Spot but you know, on the who.

David B. Wheeler: 00:36:57

Is the far left that's driving this party into the ditch.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:37:00

I mean, unfortunately, my, my old friend Barack Obama did a tremendous amount of damage to that party and he did a tremendous amount of damage to the political zeitgeist and the culture war.

And said differently, Van Jones, who was on the Obama staff in the White House and is now a color animal, color commentator, political analyst at cnn. When Trump won the first time, Vann said this is a White lash. This is a backlash of white ism in America.

And Obama could have been a transformative, post partisan, post tribal president, but he dug in and he dug in and so he created a lot of anger in the society and a result of which we started a war with each other. We started a great culture war. So.

So this emphasis under the Obama administration on quotas and the emphasis on pronoun usage and the emphasis on transgender bathrooms and the de emphasis on blue collar, lower and middle income families and policies that could potentially help them, the de emphasis of that created a vacuum that Donald Trump exploited. So he's a major culprit. The other major culprit, frankly, is the Washington duopoly. So these guys are in bed with each other.

Washington is not a swamp, guys. Washington is a gold plated hot tub, okay?

And they pass the cigars to each other and they pass the Cristal champagne to each other and they stay in office forever. They have figured out through gerrymandering and they have figured out through their fundraising process how to keep themselves in office forever.

The Congress has a 14% approval rating, which is slightly above Kim El Jung, the North Korean dictator. Yet the incumbents have a 95% incumbent re election rate.

So that'd be like having a terrible restaurant, having a terrible chef has horrific Yelp ratings, but the chef itself never gets fired. And so there's a combo of a lot of different things systemically that are causing this problem right now.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:39:35

Yeah.

David B. Wheeler: 00:39:35

And. And there's also the consultant class, which probably part of.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:39:38

Yep, yep.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:39:40

Consultant and lobbying class, sir. The lobby.

David B. Wheeler: 00:39:44

And then we've got donors on our side that dump millions of dollars into races that are absolutely unwinnable, which, you know, the consultant class loves. Again, on Democrat and the Republican side, you know, we're talking about Lindsey Graham.

I posted earlier on Substack this week a whole analysis on his opponents and the amount of money that's been raised against him. And he consistently wins by 10 to 12 points.

Even Jamie Harrison, and I think it was 22, ran and spent $110 million against Lindsay's 75 and still won by 10%, which the guy before that had raised I think 16,000 and got the same percentage.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:40:28

Yeah.

David B. Wheeler: 00:40:29

So I think it's a re education and a refocus. You know, as far as Obama, I doubt he believed in a lot of that that was foist upon him.

But again, it's that the staffing and the, the professional class within the Democratic Party that has driven this, frankly this country and now this or the party, and then this country into the, into the ditch, as far as I'm concerned. And I know a lot of these people, you know, I grew up in politics with them.

I didn't choose the professional consultant route and I don't have a home on the Vineyard, but by God, I got three healthy, good kids and, and healthy lifestyle out here in North Carolina. But I'm just sick to death that people like you and Kinzinger.

Why don't, why don't the Democrats find a race to run him in as a Democrat, for God's sakes? He could win in Illinois in a race. We've had a couple other folks on this show that have. Joe Walsh was on again.

Listen, he's a raging lunatic sometimes. So am I. We're supposed to be the party of oak, open and welcome, but we don't welcome a guy like him that could win.

And what do you see as a, an alternative for the party? You know, we're trying to get folks to rethink how we operate as a party.

If, if you were in control or if you had some say, which I believe you should, what would you do differently as a party?

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:42:08

Well, I had, you know, I had this conversation with John Hilman, as you guys referenced, but also with Gavin Newsom. I did Gavin's podcast about a month ago, and I said to Gavin that you have such a historic opportunity.

You could reset the entire political system for a generation. And all you have to do is open the tent. That's all you have to do. You have to go and win back Elon Musk. Response to that? No, we hate him.

He got Trump elected. He's now canceled. Go and win back Bobby Kennedy. No, we hate him. Okay, Bobby Kennedy. Elon Musk really helped Donald Trump.

Whether you like it or not, that's what they did. And you could open the tent to Kissinger, Cheney, Christie, Romney.

There's a whole selection of exiled Republicans, you know, traditional Republicans. The Democrats could say, hey, we're sort of rebranding here a little bit.

Yes, we have progressive ideas and some left leaning ones, but we're a pro democracy and we're pro principles and pro system.

ed before. It happened in the: 1850

David B. Wheeler: 00:43:42

The Wigs.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:43:43

ed by The Republicans. It was: 1856

They peeled them off. They went to the Democrats that wanted abolition and peeled them off.

And I'm telling you right now, it was a huge victory and probably saved the nation because Abraham Lincoln became president. And so, for me, it's doable.

Gavin said to me that it would be almost impossible in the current fever in the Democratic Party, it would almost be impossible to get that done. I find that tragic. At a time where we need these people. I find that tragic.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:44:39

Yeah, I agree.

David B. Wheeler: 00:44:39

But as. As Carvel has suggested, the far left and let them have their own party. I mean, form their own party. I couldn't agree more with that.

I just sick to death that, you know, the way to shoehorn them into the party is just find a race to run them in as a Democrat, get them elected, and they can orient themselves once they're in office, and, you know, we can win back these seats. But the Democrats seem to have a problem with winning. They don't. They would rather, you know, lose and be right than win and actually have.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:45:19

An effect on people's lives 100%.

David B. Wheeler: 00:45:23

Yeah. All right, Mo, back to you, buddy.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:45:26

Yeah. I'm going to hit you up for some free advice. I'm running for Congress in western North Carolina in a district that's an R +5.

You know, the biggest group of voters are unaffiliated voters. You know, in North Carolina, we got hit hard by Hurricane Elaine, so we've got a lot of folks struggling to get back on their feet.

So I'm, you know, kind of the motto for my campaign is kicking ass for the working class, because they're the folks that have gotten left behind and are getting hurt by a lot of these policies. Yeah. Any advice on how to.

How to reach people that, you know, in the past might have, you know, been part of the MAGA movement, but they're getting hurt by these policies. How can I reach those folks?

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:46:04

Well, I'm going to give you some advice that somebody gave to me about life. There is no such thing as quality time. There's only quantity time. And it's against the cliche. But just hear me out for a second.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:46:22

Sure.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:46:22

The more time you spend on the road, the more time you spend in the district, the more time you spend burning shoe leather, knocking on doors, going to civic events, going to storefronts, the more identification, the better and sharper the narrative about who you are. What your policies are going to be, how you're going to represent people Bowl.

And I'm going to tell you who is probably right now the best in the business of this. It's aoc. So Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. She's two districts away from where I'm sitting. She beat the pants off of Joe Farley.

He was the incumbent, he took the district for granted.

She, she showed on Twitter while she was doing this the burn up of her shoe leather on the various shoes as she walked the district cajoling people for votes, pushing her agenda. And she's one of the hardest working people in politics.

Now, I don't agree with a lot of her philosophy, I don't agree with a lot of things she wants to do and I don't agree with the direction she'd like to take the Democratic Party. But I admire her and I admire her work ethic and I admire her skill set.

And if you're going to do that, if you're going to run, okay, you got to do that. There's no such thing as quality time.

It's just all quantity, block and tackle and build the schedule to meet as many people as possible in that district.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:47:58

Right. Listen, David mentioned, we've had on David Jolly, who's now running as a Democrat in Florida for Governor Joe Walsh.

I guess last week, week before last, announced he's officially registered as a Democrat. We asked Adam Kinzinger, he said, look, you know, you're clearly not welcome in the Republican Party. Could you see yourself being a Democrat?

And he said, you know, if the Democrats opened the aperture and would take in from the center to the left, then he could see it. So, you know, yeah, we've kind of got.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:48:29

You asked great questions, guys. You asked me that question. I would be a Democrat if I felt that they would accept me.

Yeah, you know, I haven't changed parties yet because I always had that glimmer of hope that there might be some ability to, to, you know, end this personality cult. But we'll see.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:48:49

Yeah, we kind of feel like we've hit the trifecta with the three of them. So you'd make it the super effective. We could bring you over too.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:48:56

There you go.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:48:57

Well, listen, I think it really does take. This is very myopic, I think on the, on the.

And again, I guess I'm using a Democratic term using words like that, but I just think they've been very short sighted, you know, this focus we had Paul Begalla and I thought he was spot on when he Said the, the Democrats spent too much time focusing on people that put their pronouns at the end of their emails rather than people have their name stitched above their pocket when they go to work in the morning.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:49:22

Amen.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:49:23

And we've got to get back to, you know, focusing on those people and listening to them and their problems.

Well, listen, you've been a real breath of fresh air and, and it's nice to see, you know, someone that, you know, is, you know, kind of in the heart of the, of the, the, of the movement that, you know, with, with what seems like good sense and, and good values. So, man, you know, good on you.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:49:50

For, you know, you know what the, you know what the big problem is for me, the pain for me is I have a lot of friends that are still with Trump. They hate his guts, but they like the power. They like the access of the White House or they like living or speaking or working in the White House.

But they'll talk to you privately. They're stressed out and they hate his guts. I don't know anybody I have yet to meet.

I know we're probably gonna have to wrap this in a second, but I'll just say this here. I don't know anybody, and I mean anybody that likes the guy.

Nobody, Anybody close to his orbit, in his interaction space where he has a one on one, ten on one. They find him to be angry, they find him to be insecure, they find him to be self loathing.

They find him to be a credit hog the way some people are ball hogs in basketball. He's a credit hog. He doesn't like anybody getting any credit for anything other than himself.

And he's just a miserable sob and so, you know, but, you know, he's, he's got the name recognition, he's a pretty good communicator, he's a good campaigner and they ran very shitty candidates against him. And that's where we are. That's why we are where we are.

David B. Wheeler: 00:51:06

So we, we're not really conspiracy theory guys. But doesn't stop us from talking about it a little bit. What are your theories on what Putin has on him or the Butler assassination?

You think that was real?

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:51:27

Well, you know, listen, I, I don't, I don't know what Putin. Let me start with Putin. I don't know what Putin has on him.

If the assassination attempt wasn't real and that man lost his life because of a premeditated false flag versus Donald Trump to raise his profile and to raise his, you know, political stature, increase the potential of him winning.

I, I would believe it, by the way, because I know how evil Trump is, but I don't, it just doesn't strike me when watching the tape of didn't, it didn't look like it was contrived to me. But then again, I don't know. But you know, on the Putin thing, I don't think any of us know what Putin has on him, but I will say this.

Putin has something because when you have the window open and you hear clippity clop outside, it's a, it's a horse, it's not a zebra. Don't overthink it. Of course he has something because there's nobody that would be cowtowing to Putin like this. Putin has a dilapidated army.

The US could take this guy out very quickly. We've decided not to. He has a limited capability now with his, Just think about the size of Russia compared to the Ukraine.

And three years later, Ukraine is still fighting strong. You know, if they just got the help from the west that they needed, I think they could finish the job. And remember, Russia was the invader.

Trump has said to people that Ukraine started the war. Trump went and got sanctions on the Ukraine in addition to Russia at the U.N. i mean, he's gotta, he's, they have to have something.

th of November,: 2024

So if you, you know, that's a, that's a big middle finger to Donald Trump. That's like, yep, we got something on you.

We got something on you really bad that you don't want anybody to know about, and we'll use it against you, just so you know.

David B. Wheeler: 00:53:45

Yeah, well, I, I, I have followed General Flynn and Roger Stone and that whole cabal of outsiders and that whole Butler thing just seemed like a Roger Stone, Michael Flynn operation. But I, I don' either, it's just conjecture.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:54:03

I don't, I don't disagree. But man, that's about as evil as it gets. Yeah, somebody, you have a, you have a, a fireman that's been 20 years in service, about to retire.

He's sitting behind the candidate and he's killed and his family loses their father because they had to contrive a political assassination attempt. You know, I hope, I hope it's not the case, guys. I'll just say, tell you that. Yeah, the worst karma that you can come up with.

David B. Wheeler: 00:54:32

Yeah. So have you ever, have you ever thought about running yourself?

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:54:38

You know, you guys may remember this, maybe you don't. I mean, I almost got divorced when I ran, when I was in the White House. You know, Deirdre hates it. She hates the way people are treated in it.

She doesn't want the backflow onto the kids. And so I always tease people and tell them, hey, I'm running for reelection in my marriage. I'm not, not going to be able to run for anything.

Because one of the things that happens, guys, when you run for office, you automatically have to tell lies. As soon as you declare that you're running for office, your mouth starts moving in a bad direction. You say, well, why is that?

You don't have to do that. Well, you actually do have to do that because there's all these varying constituencies that you're trying to win over.

So you're shading your policy this way, that way, et cetera.

David B. Wheeler: 00:55:27

Yeah, well, we, Mo and I both run on several occasions. You're, you're right, my friend. Although I'm a much better liar than Mo will ever be.

So, so, all right, well, Anthony, what gets you up in the morning? What keeps you moving besides your business? Your beautiful wife and family?

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:55:49

You know, listen, I, I, I, I like what I do, you know, I mean, mentioned my podcast. I like interviewing people, I like interviewing authors, I like analyzing the situation. I have a good rapport with Caddy.

I've enjoyed this podcast a great deal. I like talking to people. I had the opportunity, I'm graced with the opportunity to do public speaking.

And so I could be on 10 or 15 public, publicly paid public speeches a year, which is a lot of fun for me. It gets me in a little bit of a travel mode, gets me to meet people.

I'd like to get in the gym, I like to travel with my wife and my, my, obviously my kids. I took my kids to Epic Universe in Orlando last weekend. I think they had a fantastic time. And, you know, but I'm, I'm here for it.

Meaning I'm not trying to over complicate my life. I don't need to prove anything to anybody.

If you come visit me here out on Long Island, I'm in a nondescript, it's an upper middle class house, but it's not a mansion because I don't want to put my kids in a situation of over entitlement where it ruins their lives. I think there's a paradox if you're not careful. There's a paradox to wealth. You can End up very lonely. You get the big mansion, 15 acres.

You're there by yourself. You buy the yacht. Okay, great. No one on the cruise ship to share the chicken fingers with. You get the plane, that's great.

But now you're alone again, you know, and there's a paradox to wealth. We have to be careful with it. And so for me, I enjoy what I'm doing.

You know, if Andrew were to win the mayor's race and he asked me to do something that was an appointed position to help him out, I probably would consider doing something like that or helping him on the economic development board, which is a part time job but is very influential in, in the, in the city. Those are things I have interest in.

David B. Wheeler: 00:57:45

And the city's gonna need you, man. So. And it looks like he's gonna win, don't you think?

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:57:50

Yeah, I think so. I hope so. It's running against a real hard left socialist. I don't think that's, that'll push the city into bigger economic despair.

David B. Wheeler: 00:58:02

All right, final words. Mo.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:58:07

I can't. I think we've pretty much covered the waterfront.

And listen, you've been very gracious with your time and really appreciate you taking time to do this. I know you're, you're busy and it's real privileged to have you on today.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:58:20

Good luck with the race. You know, guys, I really, really appreciate it. Colonel.

David B. Wheeler: 00:58:24

Well, we appreciate you having on.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:58:25

Appreciate.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:58:26

All right, joining us. You got a David and muck you, Mo.

David B. Wheeler: 00:58:30

That's right. All right, hold on. We're going to save that for the ending here. Hold on, I'll cue you, Anthony. That's all for this episode of Muck you.

Thanks for joining us. As we dug through the dirt and got to the core of what's really going on. I'm David Wheeler, your co host. Loves to shake things up.

It's been a blast sparring with my partner, in truth, Colonel Mo Davis and Anthony Scaramucci. If you're loving what we're do, head over to our website americanbuckrakers.com for more episodes.

And if you don't like what we're doing, what do you, what do you tell them? Anthony?

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:59:01

I, I want to hear it. I always tell people if you don't like what I'm doing, send me some comments. This way I can, I can, I can filter in the comments.

If they make sense, I may make a change, you know.

David B. Wheeler: 00:59:10

That's right. Well, if you, in our case, if you don't like it, muck you.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:59:17

Well, muck you, David. And muck you Mo. And it's great to be on with both of you.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:59:21

Hey, thank you. Glad. Interesting to hear you mention Gleeveck. My stepdad was on that if he's extended his life by over a decade. So that was a remarkable drug going.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:59:29

On with my mom, unfortunately.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:59:31

Yeah.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:59:31

Other complications that are age related. Now they both are beneficiaries. I'm a beneficiary of these governmental grants.

David B. Wheeler: 00:59:41

Yep.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:59:42

All right.

David B. Wheeler: 00:59:42

Well, God bless you. And God bless her, too. Okay, take care.

Anthony Scaramucci: 00:59:45

God bless. Have a great weekend, guys.

Colonel Moe Davis: 00:59:46

You too. Bye. Bye.

Jimmy Muckraker: 00:59:50

This has been muck you co hosted by Colonel Mo Davis in Asheville, North Carolina, and David Wheeler in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Thanks to our guest today, Representative David Jolly, a candidate for governor in Florida.

Please donate and learn more about David jolly's campaign at davidjolly.com and thanks to the great Anthony Scaramucci for joining us. More on Anthony is scaramucci.net Special thanks this week to Christina Cassese for helping us.

merican Muckrakers. Copyright: 2025