Anthony Scaramucci, the financier who served briefly in President Donald Trump's first administration — an 11-day stint as White House communications director in 2017 — before joining the Never Trump movement, predicted that Trump will issue pardons for himself and members of his family if more Republicans turn him in the months ahead.

Scaramucci, who endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in 2024 and has been sharply critical of Trump's second presidency, shared the prediction during a Wednesday morning conversation with MS NOW anchor Stephanie Ruhle (watch the interview).

GOP senators have largely been deferential to Trump since his return to the White House, voting to confirm many of his most controversial nominees. Republicans currently hold the Senate majority, and control of the chamber will be decided in the November 2026 midterm elections. Scaramucci, however, predicted that more Republicans will break with the president as his popularity continues to decline.

Ruhle pointed to fresh signs of dissent within the party, telling Scaramucci: "Another break from Trump: Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah, he is now calling for the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate the business dealings and relationships of presidential family members, including a report that a Russian oligarch helped pay for the wedding after-party of Don Jr. You know Don Jr. and the Trump family very well; you and I have talked about this over the course of the last two years and the extraordinary money they have made — sort of, with reckless abandon, like, come at me, bro, you can't take me down. And now, you've got a Republican in Utah saying, hold on a minute."

Scaramucci responded that more Republicans will rebel against what he described as the Trump family's "corruption."

"It's not a glass ceiling, Stephanie — it's a concrete ceiling for a lot of people when they look at that sort of corruption," he told Ruhle. "But I think the most interesting thing you said is that Republicans want to look into this. And so, I think that's where the fissure is, and that's where the crack is. And I think a lot of Republicans, in the next six weeks, are going to break from the president due to his unpopularity. Moreover, if they end up losing the Senate, I make a prediction, here on your show: The president will start pardoning his family members."

Scaramucci added that Trump could go even further.

"He may even pardon himself before the term is over," he continued. "And like it or not, he'll point to the Hunter Biden pardon and say: well, I'm pardoning all my family members. And he'll do the whataboutism that politicians do about these perimeters of corruption .... But I think it's a bad sign for the president that the Republicans are finally coming and they're finally cracking on this issue."

The Hunter Biden pardon Scaramucci cited came in December 2024, when President Joe Biden pardoned his son, who had been convicted in a federal gun case and pleaded guilty to federal tax charges, after repeatedly saying he would not do so. Under Article II of the Constitution, presidential pardon power extends to federal offenses; no U.S. president has ever pardoned himself, and the question has never been tested in court.

Whether more Republican senators follow Curtis in calling for an investigation, and whether the party keeps its Senate majority in November, now form the backdrop for Scaramucci's six-week forecast.

Source: Alternet