Scaramucci slams Haley for subtle endorsement of Trump: ‘No backbone'

Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as White House communications director under the Trump administration, slammed former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley over her support for former President Trump, saying, "there's no backbone in her decision." 

In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Scaramucci added that "she knows the danger."

"She's smarter than what she's doing right now. But there's no backbone in her decision," he said Friday in the interview on "The Situation Room," which was highlighted by Mediaite. "She's obviously been influenced by these campaign apparatchiks and these campaign consultants that tell her, 'Hey, you better support Donald Trump [or] you have no future in that party.'" 

His criticism comes after Haley, who was a chief rival of Trump's during the 2024 primary race before dropping out in March, said earlier this week that she would support the former president over President Biden in the upcoming election.

"Trump has not been perfect on these policies. I've made that clear, many, many times," she said during a speech at the conservative Hudson Institute. "But Biden has been a catastrophe. So, I will be voting for Trump." 

Scaramucci pushed back on her notion, noting that she had garnered at least 20 percent of the primary vote from Trump, and thus, should have kept going.

He is likely referencing Haley's wins in Maryland's GOP primary and 18 percent in Nebraska's primary earlier this month. The protest votes served as a swipe at Trump's MAGA — or "Make America Great Again" — wall.

After suspending her campaign, the former GOP candidate declined to endorse Trump. Instead, she argued that he would have to "earn" the support from her followers. The Biden campaign quickly jumped on the rhetoric, stepping up their efforts to court Republicans who were dissatisfied with the former president.

When asked about what the incumbent should do to garner those voters, Scaramucci offered Biden willed Biden to say "'Hey, this is a binary election, this is democracy first. Are you a patriot first and a partisan last? Come join us so that we can keep this system of government, this great American experiment working for the American people as well as it's worked over the last 250 years.'" 

Scaramucci was not the only one to criticize Haley's subtle endorsement of Trump.

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) responded with: "Not a surprise but: Pathetic." Mark Sanford (R), who served as the governor of South Carolina before Haley, also slammed the move, saying, "And what you have here is somebody obviously wanting to be relevant in 2028." 

Trump, however, responded to the endorsement by suggesting Haley could join his team.