Episode summary
Anthony Scaramucci on Katie Zacharia, Trump, and the Midterms | At Barron's
At Barron's
· · 26 min · Hosts: Andy Serwer · Guests: Anthony Scaramucci
Summary
Anthony Scaramucci argues that Katie Zacharia’s short White House tenure showed how punishing Washington can be, and he says the job is a bad fit for anyone who is not comfortable speaking extemporaneously. He frames his own brief White House stint as a lesson in not playing the victim, while acknowledging that criticism of him is often rooted in the perception that he is “full of it.”
On the midterms, he expects Democrats to do well in the House and says the Senate is close to a toss-up, with Republican money shifting away from vulnerable races. He says Donald Trump would improve GOP odds by spending more of his fundraising haul, cutting down rallies, and stopping the “weird” attacks on opponents’ masculinity.
Scaramucci is bearish on Trump’s economic stewardship, arguing tariffs have been a mistake and that the president has done “self harm” to the economy. At the same time, he says the stock market’s strength is more about AI capital spending than Trump, and he is not convinced the AI trade is a bubble yet. He also says SkyBridge has pivoted successfully into crypto, with about 60% of assets exposed to it, and that the firm’s business has been strong in 2023, 24, and 25.
Key takeaways
- Scaramucci says Democrats are positioned to win the House and thinks the Senate is effectively a toss-up, despite weak Republican political metrics.
- He tells Trump to deploy more of his fundraising, stop the rallies, and drop the personal attacks on candidates’ masculinity.
- He argues tariffs have hurt American industry and calls the president’s trade policy an economic mistake.
- Scaramucci says SkyBridge now has about 60% of its assets in crypto exposure and has had its best revenue years in 2023, 24, and 25.
- He is not ready to call AI a bubble, saying the spending wave is still powering markets and could keep running hot.
Notable quotes
“I think they collectively made a good decision to allow her to move on”
“Playing the victim in life is not a not a healthy strategy”
“I think it will be that good for the Democrats on the House side”
“the tariff situation has been I think an unmititigated disaster on a number of different fronts”
“I feel like the spending wave is a tsunami still”
How the episode opens
Hello everyone and welcome to At Barrens. I'm Andy Sirwear. Welcome to our guest, the one, the only Anthony Scaramucci. Kind of needs no introduction. Although, how would you describe yourself? Because Wikipedia says financier and broadcaster. You got this big podcast now, but what do you tell your kids? What do you tell your family? What who do you what do you do? They don't mention on Wikipedia they got fired from the White House.
I think they do. — I mean, but also I mean this woman just blew right by me and — We're going to talk about that. But how would you describe yourself? — She's like she's like a thoroughbred. — I want to get into that.
Never seen a racehorse move like that. — Uh how would I describe myself? I'm an entrepreneur. you know, I'm a uh — Obviously I have a a firm Skybridge, which you know, and you and I know each other forever. And u I've sort of accidentally got into the podcasting business, which has been fun for me. And I like writing and so I've written a few books and uh other than that uh you know, you know, our conference, you've been to our conference businesses and so
So couple different called the mooch or is it mooch or the mooch? Do you not mind that? Well, I mean, I don't mind it, but I I'll give you the history of that. There was a u — There was a German immigrant who was my fizzed teacher in the early 1970s out on Long Island. And if you had a four syllable last name, there was just like visceral dislike of you emanating from this man. And so, he picked one of the syllables of your last name.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- trump
- midterms
- political risk
- portfolio management
- hedge fund investing
Companies and tickers mentioned
- SkyBridge Capital
Watch the episode
Watch “Anthony Scaramucci on Katie Zacharia, Trump, and the Midterms | At Barron's” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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