President-elect Donald Trump is expected to pick Republican National Committee spokesman and chief strategist Sean Spicer to serve as White House press secretary, sources with direct knowledge told the Washington Examiner on Thursday.
Spicer first became involved with Trump in August when he agreed to work in New York three to four days a week as an on-site adviser to the campaign while maintaining his position with the RNC. He has since become a senior spokesman for the president-elect’s transition operation and has been responsible for briefing reporters each morning on the transition team’s day-to-day activities.
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“Sean has come out to be the leading contender for the podium position,” a GOP source told the Examiner, adding that a formal announcement could come as soon as Friday.
Reached by the Examiner, Spicer did not confirm or deny his selection for the post.
Spicer’s expected choice for press secretary puts a close ally of incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who is RNC chair, in a critical White House post.
A number of individuals had been mentioned in connection with the top West Wing position in recent weeks, though Spicer’s aggressive defense of Trump’s posture toward Russia in the midst of new revelations about Moscow’s hacking activity propelled him to the front of the line, according to a separate source.
Transition spokesman Jason Miller, who had been floated as Spicer’s main competition for the press secretary position, is now said to be under consideration for White House communications director, CNN reported Thursday.
A transition source told the Examiner there had “never been a conversation” about putting Miller behind the podium as press secretary, nor was it a position that he was ever interested in pursuing. Miller would continue to work closely with Spicer if he is tapped for communications director.
“Jason is likely to hold some kind of adviser or assistant to the President gig,” said one GOP source who noted that press secretary and the “day-to-day responsibilities” that come with the position “wasn’t a role that Jason wanted during the campaign” or afterward. Miller had served as communications director for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s failed presidential campaign prior to joining the Trump team as a senior communications adviser in late June.
David Martosko, political director for the Daily Mail, had also interviewed for the press secretary position, but at least two sources familiar with Trump’s thinking said he was never under serious consideration for the role. The same sources told the Examiner that radio host Laura Ingraham had fizzled out as a contender and former Fox News commentator Monica Crowley, another rumored candidate for the position, was tapped by the president-elect on Thursday to join the White House National Security Council.
Spicer’s anticipated appointment raises questions about how the Trump administration will treat members of the media, especially the White House Press Corps, and whether the access reporters are given on a daily basis will change.
During a contentious interview late last week, Spicer blasted The New York Times for “peddling fake news” following a report that Russian hackers breached both the Democratic National Committee and RNC during the 2016 election cycle.
“We offered The New York Times conclusive proof that it didn’t happen. They refused to look at that. They ignored it because it didn’t fit the narrative,” Spicer told CNN, adding that the Times’ decision to run with the story was “reprehensible.”
Priebus, who sources said pushed for Spicer to be named press secretary, also hinted this week that reporters could see changes in how the West Wing operates under the next administration.
“The traditions, while some of them are great, I think it’s time to revisit a lot of these things that have been done in the White House,” Priebus said Wednesday during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
