Anthony Scaramucci on Trump and the Threat to American Democracy (Part Two)

Intelligence Squared

Arts, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 October 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Anthony Scaramucci, former White House Communications Director turned outspoken Trump critic, comes to Intelligence Squared in September for a straight-talking conversation on the fallout from Trump’s second presidency. From his brief but explosive tenure inside the Trump White House in 2017 to his career on Wall Street and success as co-host of ‘The Rest Is Politics US’ podcast, Scaramucci has never been one to hold back — sometimes at great personal cost. In conversation with Emily Maitlis he explored the biggest questions facing America and the world today. Is Trump an existential threat to democracy or can the US Constitution withstand his authoritarian impulses? Does his ‘America First’ approach make war more or less likely? Does Vladimir Putin hold leverage over Trump, or is his detachment from Europe’s troubles with Russia a calculated move to prioritise the greater threat from China? And are his opponents once again underestimating him — could the 77 million Americans who re-elected him be right that he will, in the end, make America great again? Scaramucci, with his trademark wit and unfiltered honesty, offered a rare insider’s perspective on the chaos and consequences of the Trump era. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Say hello to the next generation of Zendesk AI agents, built to deliver resolutions for everyone.
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0:15.2	Welcome to Intelligence Squared, where great minds meet. I'm producer Miarenti. For this episode, we're rejoining for
0:23.3	part two of our live event with Anthony Scaramucci. The former White House Communications Director
0:29.2	turned outspoken Trump critic joined Emily Maitliss on the Intelligence Squared stage in September
0:34.5	for a straight-talking conversation on the fallout from Trump's
0:38.0	second presidency. If you haven't heard part one, we recommend jumping back an episode and getting
0:43.7	up to speed. And if you'd like to listen to this episode in full and ad-free, why not consider
0:48.7	becoming an Intelligence Squared member at Intelligencesquared.com forward slash membership or tap the IQ2 extra button on Apple.
0:56.4	Now let's rejoin the conversation with Emily Maitliss and Anthony Scaramucci live at Union Chapel in London.
1:05.6	Following the murder of Charlie Kirk, Trump has been on a mission to shut down what he calls a radical left terrorist
1:12.9	network. And he says that the left is full of people using words like racist or fascist or
1:19.8	Nazi. So it's no wonder that people keep getting attacked. This has become a real conundrum,
1:27.3	I guess, for people who think that he is
1:30.0	acting in authoritarian slash fascist way, but don't know how to call that out without then
1:37.3	becoming a target for his aisle. So that's part of his genius. Yeah. Right?
1:45.3	And fortunately it is.
1:46.8	He's projecting, right?
1:51.9	I have a, you know, in addition to the rest of his politics, you guys, I have a smaller podcast called Open Book where I interview authors because I'm a little bit of a bookworm.
1:56.4	And there's an author by the name of Lawrence Rees, and he wrote a book called The Nazi Minds,
2:01.4	and the 12 characteristics of what the playbook was for the Nazis to create their rise in
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