Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang were guests at Fortune’s Future of Finance conference on Thursday. The topic of the 2024 elections came up. When asked about the impact that former President Donald Trump’s return would have on the business environment if he were re-elected, Scaramucci answered bluntly: “terrible.”
“It would be terrible for the economy and terrible for business,” said the founder and managing partner of SkyBridge Capital. The economy was predictable and business-friendly because of the constitutional separation of powers, Scaramucci explained. Trump wants to erase this division and embrace people and functions that would allow him to have complete control. The so-called “unitary executive” would give the president totalitarian powers over the executive branch, with exclusive rights to formulate and enforce laws. That would make Trump “super powerful,” Scaramucci said, and throughout history, he said, it was a disaster for the economy wherever it happened.
“This is a disaster for the economy, a disaster for the world and a disaster for your business,” he said, adding that Trump would be “an orange wrecking ball for this society.”
Likewise, former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang said Trump “would be a disaster” for business if he were elected president for a second time.
“He has learned from his mistakes the last time he hired responsible adults” who suppressed Trump’s political instincts, said Yang, co-chair of the Forward Party, a centrist political party he founded in 2021. However, Yang warned that if the election were held today, Trump would certainly win. The only question on his mind is whether anything will change in the next six months in swing states where Young said Biden is losing to Trump despite spending significant of Biden’s military funds.
Scaramucci noted that 40 Republicans currently publicly oppose Trump’s re-election, including former Vice President Mike Pence. If dozens of people who worked at a company got together and said a product or company was terrible and could kill you, he said, people would listen. In this case, however, it remains a mystery that Trump received such strong support, he said.
Scaramucci worked in the White House for only 11 days, from July 21 to July 31, 2017, but had one story to tell about his time in the Oval Office. Former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Trump were arguing, with Trump pointing his finger at Ryan and saying, “You work for me. You work for me,’” Scaramucci recalled. Ryan told Trump, “I don’t work for you.” Trump then looked at Scaramucci to confirm it, as if to ask, “Is this true? I have it not work?” Scaramucci remembered. “And Trump doesn’t like it,” Scaramucci added, underscoring Trump’s interest in authoritarian control.
Scaramucci joked that his brief tenure in the White House had become its own timekeeper. For example, Liz Truss, the shortest-serving prime minister in British history, served for 45 days from 6 September 2022 to 20 October 2022.4.1 Scaramucci” he said. “People are very sensitive,” Scaramucci said; Truss was “very upset.”
Jokes aside, Scaramucci warned that two films will be shown at the local theater on Election Day. These films: Weekend at Bernie’s or flying over Cuckoo’s NestHe said.
“You could either have an older guy who’s a little forgetful or a crazy guy who needs a lobotomy.”