Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served as Donald Trump’s communications director, has warned that a proposed meeting between Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping could lead to Trump being asked to leave the presidency.
“Trump should be very careful with that because he would probably — he’s going to push the envelope where he may be asked to leave the presidency,” Scaramucci said on an episode of “The Daily Beast Podcast.”
The proposed meeting, reportedly floated by Putin in a call with Trump on October 9, would bring the leaders together in China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next month. Sources told The Wall Street Journal that the intended focus would be to negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, notably without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy present.
When asked about the meeting, Trump stated he is open to anything that can end the war, before suggesting denuclearization would be the focus of the talks. The former president has been impeached twice by the House of Representatives, though he was acquitted by the Senate both times.
Scaramucci suggested that such a meeting would effectively signify the end of the Republican Party as it exists. “If that meeting were to happen, then I would tell you that the Republican Party is completely dead; we’d probably have to get a tombstone out,” he stated. He further elaborated, “The party is dead — sticking a fork in it — the Cheney, Bush, Romney, Reagan, Eisenhower party dead, stick a fork in it.”
He anticipates that Democrats will win the House in the upcoming midterm elections, and could secure a two-thirds majority in the Senate necessary to remove Trump from office. “Let’s say they split and they go 50-50, you need 17 Republicans that have had enough of him,” Scaramucci said, adding that the animosity between Trump and many Republicans could lead to the votes needed for impeachment and removal.