New White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci 'deleting old tweets'

— -- Anthony Scaramucci, the newest member of the Trump administration, took to Twitter Saturday to say he’s deleting some old tweets that “shouldn’t be a distraction.”

On Friday, Scaramucci was announced as President Trump’s new White House communications director, a position that’s been open since Mike Dubke resigned in May. Scaramucci, a well-known Wall Street financier who was a member of Trump’s transition team, will officially begin the job on Aug. 15, reporting directly to the president, according to the White House.

While Scaramucci has tweeted many comments in support of Trump in the past -- before, during and after Trump’s campaign -- he has also tweeted many opinions that are at odds with the administration’s agenda.

Though he's purging his Twitter feed, most of the deleted tweets have already been archived and are viewable on the Wayback Machine web archive.

Scaramucci has tweeted multiple times about increasing gun control in the U.S. In August 2012, he tweeted, and has since deleted, "We (the USA) has 5% of the world's population but 50% of the world's guns. Enough is enough. It is just common sense it apply more controls(.)"

On July 8, 2015, he tweeted, “Daily liquidity in alts = keeping a gun in home. Illusion of security, but more likely to cause you harm.” That tweet was deleted but it has been archived on the Trump Twitter Archive. The Wayback Machine did not archive this tweet.

In that tweet, he also linked to an article he wrote about daily liquidity and alternative investments that begins with the line, “Daily liquidity in alternative investments is like keeping a gun in your home – it might provide the illusion of security but statistics show it’s more likely to cause you harm.”

Trump is a strong supporter of gun rights -- in Atlanta in April, he told National Rifle Association members that he “will never, ever infringe on the right of the people to keep and bear arms.”

In December 2015, Scaramucci tweeted (and has since deleted) a photo of the Berlin Wall preserved in the Newseum in Washington and wrote, “Walls don't work. Never have never will. The Berlin Wall 1961-1989 don't fall for it.”

Building a “big, beautiful wall” along the United States-Mexico border was one of Trump’s key campaign promises.

Scaramucci has also in the past voiced his feelings on climate change.

In February 2016, he retweeted an Associated Press article titled, "The heat goes on: Earth sets 9th straight monthly record." In his tweet, he wrote, "(D)on't stand on the wrong side of history #climatechange". Then, in March 2016, he tweeted, “You can take steps to combat climate change without crippling the economy. The fact many people still believe CC is a hoax is disheartening.” That tweet has now been deleted.

Most recently, in December, he tweeted, “No matter your view on climate science, we can take common sense steps that spur econ growth & US energy security w/out harming environment.” This tweet has not been deleted.

In June, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, saying it “is very unfair at the highest level to the United States,” and that he would try to renegotiate it to “see if we can make a deal that’s fair."

The goal of the agreement is to slow and perhaps reverse global climate change. Syria and Nicaragua are the only other United Nations member countries that didn’t sign the deal.

In a statement announcing Scaramucci’s appointment, Trump said, “He has been a great supporter and will now help implement key aspects of our agenda while leading the communications team. We have accomplished so much, and we are being given credit for so little. The good news is the people get it, even if the media doesn’t.”

In his own statement, Scaramucci said that he’s “proud to join [Trump’s] Administration as he continues to deliver for the American people.”

At the beginning of the 2016 presidential election cycle, Scaramucci was Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's fundraising chairman. When Walker's campaign ended, he then joined Jeb Bush's campaign. When Bush dropped out of the race, he then joined Trump's campaign.

On Friday, Trump tweeted that Scaramucci would've supported him originally if he had known he was running.