Would You Call ‘The Mooch’ a Turncoat or a Benedict Arnold for Turning on Trump? Hardly! (Op-Ed)
Thomas J. Madden, Chairman and CEO, Transmedia GroupWhat’s wrong with switching sides if you see someone you once admired not living up to your ideals? Or not making the country you love “great again” . . . beyond just a slogan! Didn’t Ronald Reagan begin as a Hollywood Democrat, and wasn’t Franklin D. Roosevelt one of his "true heroes?"So was Reagan a turncoat when he moved to the right-wing in the 1950's, became a Republican in 1962, and emerged as a leading conservative spokesman in the Goldwater campaign of 1964 and eventually because President of the United States of America?A turncoat? Hardly? Even though the definition of a turncoat is a person who shifts allegiance from one loyalty or ideal to another, betraying or deserting an original cause by switching to the opposing side or party, does that make you a bad person? A double-crosser? A traitor?Yet turncoat has a much stealthier, creepier and slimier connotation, like backstabber, betrayer, double-dealer, Judas, quisling, recreant, serpent or snake.But is the American financier, entrepreneur, and political consultant Anthony Scaramucci, nicknamed "The Mooch" a snake when he says in interviews his former boss, President Trump, is in a nuclear meltdown mode?Or when he appears on CNN saying Trump is out of step and not helping the country, despite Scaramucci having briefly served as his White House Director of Communications from July 21 to July 31, 2017.Then there’s this.Less than two weeks before Scaramucci broke with President Trump, he hosted a dinner in Manhattan with Donald Trump Jr. apparently in a bid to impress clients.The meal described to the Washington Examiner adds intrigue to the timing of Scaramucci's declaration that Trump is "unstable" and unfit for office.Some sources found it odd that Scaramucci would ask Trump Jr. to help promote a business venture — and, according to one account, offer to repay the favor with 2020 fundraisers — just days before vowing to rally ex-officials against Trump.Benedict Arnold?I’m sure there are probably those among Trump’s most ardent supporters who consider Scaramucci equivalent to a modern-day Benedict Arnold. But is that fair?We all know who Benedict Arnold was, right?He was that American military officer who served as a general during the American Revolutionary War, fighting for the American Continental Army before defecting to the British in 1780.George Washington had given him his fullest trust and placed him in command of the fortifications at West Point, NY.Arnold planned to surrender the fort to British forces, but the plot was discovered in September 1780 and he fled to the British. His name quickly became a byword in the United States for treason and betrayal because he led the British army in battle against the very men whom he had once commanded.But most would agree Scaramucci is no Benedict Arnold, in fact far from it, for he always says how much he loves his country and has his country’s best interest at heart when he appears on CNN deploring what his erstwhile hero and boss says and does.But would you put Scaramucci in the same side-switching category with a Reagan?Hardly!
About the Author: Madden’s next book “Love Boat 78” will be published in the fall by Mascot Books and available on Amazon, along with his current book, “Is there enough Brady in Trump to the win the inSUPERable Bowl?”
