Scaramucci rips Kelly, saying he's trying to 'lance the boil' in White House

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Scaramucci: Trump playing a 'long game' with steel tariffs

Trump plans to impose new steel and aluminum tariffs; former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci reacts.

Anthony Scaramucci on Sunday criticized Chief of Staff John Kelly for his management style, arguing it’s too authoritarian and criticizing the former Marine general’s handling of the Rob Porter scandal, while insisting the criticism is not revenge for Kelly firing him as President Trump’s communications director.

“What I’m really trying to do is lance the boil,” Scaramucci, fired by Kelly after 11 days working in the White House, told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" on Sunday. “I respect the fact that he fired me. … I want him to succeed. It’s good for America.”

Kelly, since becoming chief of staff in July 2017, has been credited with bringing more order to the Oval Office. But he’s also been criticized for allegedly cutting off Trump from some on his most-trusted advisers.

“At the end of the day, this is a civilian organization,” said Scaramucci, who repeatedly argued Sunday the administration should have more of a “big tent” approach to ideas.

The White House this past weekend acknowledged having a list of ex-administration officials, including Scaramucci, who left “under adverse circumstances” and cannot enter the White House complex unless they receive permission from Kelly or his deputy chief of staff, according to Bloomberg News.

The White House on Saturday did not return a request for comment on the issue.

Scaramucci also told Fox News this weekend that he thinks Kelly "lied" about the list when the story first broke, telling staffers to say such a list didn’t exist.

The Wall Street financier was fired by Kelly after just 11 days as communications director, after The New Yorker magazine published an interview in which Scaramucci slammed White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Kelly, on his first day on the job, fired Scaramucci.

“Mr. Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement announcing Scaramucci's departure. “We wish him all the best.”

“He doesn’t like me,” Scaramucci, who also suggested that Kelly attempted to “cover up” that White House staffer Rob Porter didn’t get full security clearance because of allegations he abused two ex-wives, said Sunday.

Porter resigned last month over the matter.