White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci is already scoring controversy during his first week on the job. While being interviewed by Jake Tapper on CNN on Sunday, some viewers believe Scaramucci was commenting on White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s physical appearance.
The State of the Union interview, which the Washington Post describes as “lengthy” and “heated,” covered Scaramucci’s new role in the administration before turning to Sanders’ job performance. Scaramucci praised Sanders, who replaced White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer after he resigned on Friday.
“I think Sarah does a great job. She’s an incredibly warm person. She’s incredibly authentic,” Scaramucci told Tapper.
At the end of the interview, the communications director commented on the White House’s “hair and makeup person.”
“Sarah, if you’re watching. I love the hair and makeup person that we had on Friday, so I’d like to continue to use the hair and makeup person,” he said.
.@Scaramucci to WH press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders: "I'd like to continue to use the hair and make up person" https://t.co/wiXGTpKYBq
— CNN (@CNN) July 23, 2017
Online, many found Scaramucci’s comment distasteful and sexist, as there isn’t really any professional reason for him to address her on national TV to critique her appearance or to discuss what his preference of her appearance should be.
Anthony Scaramucci says Sarah Sanders Huckabee would be better at her job if she looked better. No, really. #CNNSOTU https://t.co/0S758V1MTZ
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) July 23, 2017
Scaramucci's statement about Sarah Huckabee's hair and makeup was peak Wall Street douchebag.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 23, 2017
https://twitter.com/Michelle_RJones/status/889115405356347392
Scaramucci on #CNNSOTU critiquing the hair and makeup of Huckabee. He's no Spicy. He'll be racing Trump to the bottom. Trump hates to lose.
— Steve Redmond (@sjredmond) July 23, 2017
Scaramucci has since refuted that he was talking about Sanders’ looks, arguing that he was commenting on his own hair and makeup. Tapper even came to Scaramucci’s defense, seconding that the comment was self-directed. Meanwhile, Sanders told the Post that her boss was simply praising the office’s makeup person.
“Nothing else should be read into it,” she said in an email.
For the record, I was referring to my hair and make up and the fact that I like the make up artist. I need all the help I can get! #humor
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 23, 2017
i think he was saying he wanted hair and makeup to stick around for HIM
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 23, 2017
But many are left unconvinced. Jezebel’s Lauren Evans argued that Anthony Scaramucci received a light makeup touch on Friday, whereas Sanders received a significant appearance overhaul compared to earlier in the week.
“Friday’s look involved a heavier styling hand, with Sanders’ previously straight hair curled into soft waves,” Evans writes. “Her once lightly-applied makeup has been given the Trump Treatment, with thick coats of bronzer and dark, dense smears of eyeshadow. In Trump Land, femininity is a woman’s chief virtue. And how is a woman supposed to look feminine without heaping gobs of makeup?”