President Trump has tapped former Fox News executive Bill Shine to join the White House as deputy chief of staff for communications, a new role that is expected to help the administration improve its messaging ahead of the fall midterm elections.
“Mr. Shine will serve as [a]ssistant to the [p]resident and [d]eputy [c]hief of [s]taff for [c]ommunications,” the White House said in a statement. “He brings over two decades of television programming, communications, and management experience to the role.”
Shine was first rumored to be joining the West Wing last month, but it was unclear if he would take over the role of communications director or assume a different position. The White House has gone without a communications director since Hope Hicks left the job in late March.
Shine’s appointment was not without controversy, as he was just recently ousted from Fox News over his mishandling of sexual assault allegations.
“I don’t want to see the ghost of Roger Ailes running the White House communications operation,” Larry Klayman, founder of the conservative legal group Judicial Watch, told the Daily Beast on Thursday, referring to the late Fox News chairman who faced multiple claims of sexual misconduct.
The president’s decision to add Shine to his staff comes as several senior communications officials are said to be planning their exits from the White House press shop, including press secretary Sarah Sanders and her deputy Raj Shah.
A source familiar with the situation told the Washington Examiner that Shine is expected to “shake up” the internal communications operation in the coming weeks to ensure the White House is in the best position possible to help Republican candidates ahead of the midterms and the president during his reelection bid.
