Sarah Huckabee Sanders out as White House press secretary

“After 3 1/2 years, our wonderful Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be leaving the White House at the end of the month and going home to the Great State of Arkansas….,” the president tweeted, adding, “….She is a very special person with extraordinary talents, who has done an incredible job! I hope she decides to run for Governor of Arkansas – she would be fantastic. Sarah, thank you for a job well done!”

Sanders distinguished herself with her often-adversarial relationship with the press and was the public face of the administration during much of the Mueller investigation. Sanders, 36, who is married to Republican consultant Bryan Sanders, has three children. She is Trump’s second press secretary. During his two four-year terms, President Barack Obama had three: Robert Gibbs, Jay Carney, and Josh Earnest. President George W. Bush had four press secretaries: Ari Fleischer, Scott McClellan, the late Tony Snow, and Dana Perino.

Speculation has long swirled that Sanders was thinking about leaving, with CBS News reporting that she was hoping to depart as long ago as June 2018.

Sanders last held a press conference 94 days ago.

“I am blessed and forever grateful to @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to serve and proud of everything he’s accomplished,” Sanders tweeted. “I love the President and my job. The most important job I’ll ever have is being a mom to my kids and it’s time for us to go home. Thank you Mr. President!”

Her father tweeted that the president “is losing a @PressSec who is a great one and I say that with as much objectivity as Fake News CNN has toward @POTUS”.