Newly-tapped White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci acknowledged Saturday that he is deleting old tweets from his personal Twitter account that might cause a “distraction” for the White House.
“Full transparency: I'm deleting old tweets,” Scaramucci tweeted. “Past views evolved & shouldn't be a distraction. I serve @POTUS agenda & that's all that matters.”
Scaramucci also said: "The politics of 'gotcha' are over. I have a thick skin and we're moving on to @POTUS agenda serving the American people."
On Friday, President Trump announced that Scaramucci will oversee the entire White House communications operation and report directly to him.
A number of Scaramucci's past tweets -- expressing liberal views on guns, climate change, the border wall and even Hillary Clinton -- re-surfaced after his White House appointment.
Among tweets deleted by Scaramucci:
“Walls don't work. Never have never will. The Berlin Wall 1961-1989 don't fall for it,” he tweeted in 2015.
“We (the USA) has 5% of the world's population but 50% of the world's guns. Enough is enough. It is just common sense it apply more controls,” he tweeted in 2012.
“You can take steps to combat climate change without crippling the economy," he tweeted in 2016. "The fact many people still believe CC is a hoax is disheartening”
Scaramucci also deleted a 2012 tweet about Hillary Clinton that said, “I hope she runs, she is incredibly competent.”
Scaramucci’s past comments on television have also come back to haunt him. Addressing the press from the briefing room podium on Friday, he expressed regret for a 2015 comment calling Trump a “hack politician.”
"Mr. President, if you’re listening, I apologize for the 50th time for saying that,” Scaramucci said.
On Saturday, Trump tweeted a defense of Scaramucci.
“In all fairness to Anthony Scaramucci, he wanted to endorse me 1st, before the Republican Primaries started, but didn't think I was running!” Trump said.
In a statement on Friday, Trump said, “Anthony is a person I have great respect for, and he will be an important addition to this administration. He has been a great supporter and will now help implement key aspects of our agenda while leading the communications team.”
Meanwhile, Scaramucci said in his first interview since being named White House communications director that Trump is “on missile lock” to keep his promise to build a wall along the border with Mexico.
“I know this is one of his campaign promises that he is on missile lock to keep,” Scaramucci said Saturday on "Breitbart News Saturday" on SiriusXM.
Pressed by host Matthew Boyle on when the wall would be built, Scaramucci noted he only started the job on Friday and hadn’t spoken with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly about it yet.
“The wall is at the top of the list for the president, so I can assure you it’s going to get done,” he said.
Scaramucci referenced the well-known list of Trump campaign promises on the office wall of senior adviser Steve Bannon and vowed that the White House would still work to implement them.
“Here’s what I will say: we have a list of campaign promises that are up on Steve Bannon’s wall, and we’re going right through those campaign promises,” he said.
He added, “What we want to do is: here’s the things we’re promised and like good business people, we’re going to deliver on these promises and try to make the system better.”
Sarah Huckabee Sanders was promoted Friday to White House press secretary, replacing Sean Spicer in the wake of his abrupt resignation.
Spicer on Friday confirmed he left because of the president’s plans to bring in new people, like Scaramucci.
Scaramucci is a Wall Street financier and campaign donor who served as a surrogate for Trump on television since the campaign.
SPICER SAYS ‘TOO MANY COOKS’ AT WHITE HOUSE
“I just thought it was in the best interest of our communications department, of our press organization, to not have too many cooks in the kitchen,” Spicer told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an interview Friday.