Did Kelly Get the Mooch Fired?

Reading between the lines of a lot of news stories, my impression is that incoming Chief of Staff John Kelly either had Scaramucci fired as a condition of taking the job, or Scaramucci was unwilling to continue to work at the White House on Kelly’s terms. NPR:

Scaramucci’s departure followed the Monday-morning swearing in of the new White House chief of staff, retired Gen. John F. Kelly. Scaramucci had negotiated an unusual deal to report directly to the president rather than the chief of staff (Reince Priebus at the time).

“Mr. Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team,” a statement from White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “We wish him all the best.”

Kelly was possibly unwilling to work at the White House unless everyone (but Trump) reported to him; Scaramucci may have been unwilling to work there under that condition. Or, maybe Kelly was unwilling to work with the Mooch under any circumstance.

The more interesting questions of the day are, who the hell would be idiot enough to take the job of White House Communications Director? It’s like a one-way ticket to being a national laughingstock.

Second, will Kelly be able to make a dent in the chaos? Or should we start a betting pool predicting the date he resigns?