A former spokesman for Donald Trump said he knows what the president really thinks of his second in command JD Vance.
Anthony Scaramucci, the briefest-serving White House press secretary, stated that Trump believes Vance is imitating him excessively by trying to replicate the boisterous leader without possessing the same commitment to his team and MAGA.
Scaramucci, who held the role of White House director of communications for just ten days in 2017, expressed his belief that Trump is dissatisfied with Vance’s position within MAGA.
‘At the end of the day, I predict JD Vance will go the way of Mike Pence,’ he told CNN’s OutFront host Erin Burnett on Friday.
‘The President will push him to become more insignificant; he will take actions against Vance that could undermine his standing. He is not pleased with the attention Vance is receiving,’ he added.
His claims were followed up by a series of clips of Vance closely echoing the words of Trump during statements and speeches.
After travelling to Greenland, which Trump has said the US wants to acquire from Denmark, Vance claimed that ‘Denmark hasn’t done a good at job keeping Greenland safe.’
A clip of Trump and another of Vance speaking on the topic were rolled back-to-back.
‘The expression I use is “some people don’t have the cards,”‘ Trump said. ‘We’re the piggy bank that everybody steals from.’
Vance echoed in the following clip and said: ‘They just don’t have the cards. We’re done being the piggy bank of the entire world.’
Burnett pointed out how the two had also begun to dress alike, down to matching ties.
‘I understand the modelling and the mimetic nature of the vice president, but I think it’s a mistake,’ Scaramucci added, furthering that if Vance should shave his beard would be a test of the VP’s ‘full capitulation.’
Scaramucci claimed that in his experience, Trump is rarely a fan of what he called ‘sycophants’ and noted that the President has dodged questions on whether Vance will be his successor.
‘He’s not the president,’ he continued, and argued that Trump, despite whatever viewers may think of him, ‘had the rizz for his team, MAGA.’
‘JD Vance hasn’t proven that,’ he said.
‘I think it’s probably annoying to the President that [Vance is] over-modelling him,’ Scaramucci continued. ‘You know, people mistake this about [Trump], I don’t think he likes the obsequiousness stuff.’
Vance’s latest appearance in Greenland, where he delivered the speech echoing the President’s words, was met with anger from natives.
The trip was ultimately cut from a three-day trip to just one day, with polls showing that nearly all Greenlanders oppose becoming part of the United States.
Recently, anti-American protestors have also staged some of the largest demonstrations ever seen on the Arctic island.
They have been speaking out against ‘American pressure against Greenland and Denmark’ and ‘unwanted visits from the U.S Government,’ as well as having planned a rally in front of the American embassy in the Danish capital for Saturday.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who has firmly opposed Trump’s overtures since his return to office, praised Greenlanders’ defiance of Washington amid the historic protests.
‘The attention is overwhelming, and the pressure is great, but it is in times like these that you show what you are made of,’ she wrote in an address to the island’s inhabitants. ‘You have stood up for who you are.’
She had previously said Vance’s visit to the island created ‘unacceptable pressure.’
‘It is clearly not a visit that concerns Greenland’s needs or wishes. That’s why I have to say it’s an unacceptable pressure being placed on Greenland and Denmark — and it’s pressure we will stand up to,’ Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish broadcasters DR and TV2.
‘President Trump is serious,’ she said. ‘He wants Greenland.’
In fact, Trump doubled down on his vow to seize the territory from Denmark – once a US ally and a NATO member – on Wednesday.
He erroneously claimed that the people of Greenland ‘want something to happen’ with the United States.
‘They’re calling us – we’re not calling them,’ the president told reporters from the Oval Office.
When he was then asked if the people in the territory were ‘eager’ to become US citizens, he replied that he did not know ‘but I think we have to do it, and we have to convince them.’
He went on to explain that the United States needs Greenland ‘for national security and international security.
‘So I think we’ll go as far as we have to go,’ he vowed.
But the trip was greeted with far from welcoming arms, as Second Lady Usha Vance’s time in Greenland added even more embarrassment for the Trump administration.
US officials were left knocking on doors of locals to see if they wanted to meet with her, which received a resounding, ‘No, thank you.’
Usha’s time there was also scheduled to include attending a popular dog sled race, which was also cancelled.
The Trump administration had claimed Usha was invited to the semi-autonomous territory to attend the Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race in Sisimiut.
But Greenland’s government has explicitly stated there was no formal or informal invitation for US officials to visit the territory – especially as it is in the middle of negotiations to form a new coalition government, according to USA Today.
It has since been revealed that the invitation for the Second Lady to attend the dogsled race was sent by an American named Tom Dans, who runs a company called American Daybreak – which seeks to strengthen US and Greenlandic ties.
In a statement published on social media late Tuesday, he said the company was a major sponsor of the annual dogsled race, and it was in that capacity that he invited Usha and other senior Trump officials to visit Greenland ‘to experience this unique and exciting cultural event.’
He said the visit was always intended to be ‘purely personal in nature and in the spirit of the friendship between our two nations.’
It is unclear who canceled Usha’s appearance at the race, but it came amid widespread protests throughout Greenland and Denmark.
Now, the only thing on the agenda for Usha’s visit is the trip to the U.S. Space Force outpost at Pituffik, on the northwest coast of Greenland, in an effort to remove the risk of violating potential diplomatic taboos.
It will also reduce the likelihood that the Vance and his wife will cross paths with residents angered by Trump´s annexation announcements.
