Trump: Sarah Huckabee Sanders is stepping down as press secretary at the end of the month

Her legacy as press secretary will be having presided over the near-destruction of the daily press briefing.

Which is a pretty sweet legacy, to be honest.

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Here’s the official announcement at the White House:

It’s the right time to leave. She had accomplished everything Republicans could have hoped for and more:

Running for governor isn’t just something Trump stuck in his tweets to be nice. According to Kaitlin Collins, Huckabee Sanders has been talking up the idea herself. Which makes sense. Between her father having served as governor for years and her own service as the face of Trump’s White House, she must have close to universal name recognition in Arkansas. How many local pols can say the same?

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All she needs is for Trump to win reelection in 2020. The governor’s seat will be occupied until 2022 by Asa Hutchinson, who’s term-limited. If Trump wins a second term, she’s formidable and maybe the favorite. If Trump gets beat, eh. Maybe she’ll look like damaged goods as the GOP’s Trump personality cult transforms into something else.

As for who replaces her in the White House, maybe … no one? What does Trump need a press secretary for if there are no press briefings? Kellyanne Conway and other Trump advisors who are practiced at cable news hits can pick up the slack on TV. He’s been operating for months without a White House communications director, since Bill Shine left; operating without a press secretary feels like a natural next step. If he’s intent on filling the role (maybe both roles with the same person), though, he could always promote Mercedes Schlapp from her current role as director of strategic communications. Or he could try to bring back Hope Hicks, although (a) Hicks is no doubt being paid much better in her role as chief spokesman for the Fox Corporation than she would be at the White House and (b) being on camera was never Hicks’s comfort zone as a Trump aide despite her good looks.

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Maybe he’ll swing Ivanka into this role? Only a Trump can really speak for Trump.

Let’s be real. There’s only one person who both deserves this job and whom the entire world wants to see take it. As LBJ once said of J. Edgar Hoover, better to have an enemy inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in. Plus, he’s always wanted his own show. It’s time.

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David Strom 11:00 AM | November 13, 2024
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David Strom 10:00 PM | November 12, 2024
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