Press Secretary Sean Spicer To Have A Bigger Role In White House, Reports Say
The White House is likely to move Press Secretary Sean Spicer to a more senior role in a new department. Meanwhile, Spicer is searching for his replacement on the briefing room podium, a report said citing two officials familiar with the matter. The discussions over shuffling of the White House communications team are still in its earlier stages and no final decision has been made, the sources said.
The move would finally put to rest rumors of Spicer being ousted. Insiders have reportedly said that President Donald Trump has shown increasing confidence in Spicer's ability to improve the administration's communications.
The search for candidates for the role of press secretary has already started. Last week, Spicer and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus reached out to Fox News contributor Laura Ingraham for the role of press secretary and Daily Mail editor David Martosko for the role of communications director, Politico reported citing a White House official.
Read: Will Sean Spicer Be Replaced By Fox News’ Kimberly Guilfoyle As White House Press Secretary?
The official also said Spicer and Priebus have had preliminary discussions with Ingraham, and Martosko met with chief strategist Steve Bannon last week.
While Ingraham declined to comment, Martosko said “I can't hear you,” and hung up. He did not respond to an email inquiry either, according to Politico.
Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was also being considered for the role of the press secretary during the transition, did not show any interest and thus was not interviewed, sources said.
According to various reports, the White House has "sought inputs from many people" as is planning to expand communications operation, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, deputy White House press secretary said in a statement.
After Communications Director Mike Dubke resigned last month citing "personal" reasons, Spicer replaced him and is currently serving two roles — the White House press secretary and the communications director. Spicer, on several occasions, has also indicated that he felt "overtaxed," according to Bloomberg.
Under the new proposed structure, Spicer would be senior to both the press secretary and communications director, reports said citing officials. Spicer has been handing over more of his daily briefing responsibilities to the principal deputy press secretary. "There are days that I'll decide that the President's voice should be the one that speaks, and iterate his priorities," Spicer said during a press briefing Monday.
Read: Sean Spicer Is Leading Contender To Be Next U.S. Ambassador To Ireland, Reports Say
Spicer’s briefings have been embroiled in controversies, beginning with his inaccurate claim that journalists "wrongly portrayed the size of Trump’s inauguration audience." Spicer has also been the subject of frequent skits by comedian Melissa McCarthy on “Saturday Night Live," reports said.
In April, Spicer received criticism when he suggested that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of Syria was guilty of acts worse than Adolf Hitler. Spicer also asserted that Hitler had not used chemical weapons, ignoring the use of gas chambers at concentration camps during the Holocaust. However, Spicer later apologized for his comments.
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