Sarah Huckabee Sanders was promoted Friday to White House press secretary, replacing Sean Spicer in the wake of his abrupt resignation.
Sanders addressed reporters on camera alongside newly named White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci. While Spicer’s resignation was delivered in apparent protest over the hiring of Scaramucci, the two top officials in the White House press shop worked Friday to project steadiness amid the palace intrigue.
“The president loves Sarah,” Scaramucci said, announcing Sanders’ promotion. “He thinks she’s doing a phenomenal job. I agree with him. I think Reince Priebus and other members of the staff agree. And I’m super proud to work with her. And I think she’s going to be phenomenal as a press secretary.”
Sanders most recently served as deputy press secretary, increasingly filling in for Spicer during on-camera and off-camera briefings.
The daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sanders managed her father’s presidential campaign in 2016 before joining Trump’s.
During her first appearance at the podium on Friday as press secretary, Sanders said taking the job at the White House is “one of the greatest honors that any person could ever have.”
“To get to do that up here in such a public way and speak on behalf of the president is absolutely an honor,” Sanders said. “It’s something I will cherish, and will hope to do my very best every single day. And be as open, honest and transparent with you all as humanly possible.”
Friday’s job announcements amount to a major shakeup in the president’s press shop at an already tumultuous time.
Sanders confirmed Spicer left because of the president’s plans to bring in new people, like Scaramucci.
“He understood that the president wanted to bring in and add new people to the team,” she said. “And Sean felt like it would be best for that team to be able to start with a totally clean slate.”
Sanders said Spicer will “stay on for the next several of weeks” through the transition.
Spicer, who spoke with Fox News on Friday, said the White House was at a point where Trump could benefit from a clean slate.
Speculation about Spicer’s status with the White House has been up and down for months.
Spicer originally was supposed to lead a newly restructured communications operation. Under that structure, the communications director would report to him. Scaramucci said Friday he would report to the president directly.
Spicer’s departure comes as Trump has shown growing frustration over the Russia investigation. Though Spicer has defended Trump throughout the controversy, he has taken on a lower-profile role in recent weeks.
Scaramucci, a former Wall Street financier, thanked Spicer for his service in the administration.
“Sean is a true American patriot. He’s a military serviceman,” Scaramucci said. “He’s got a great family. And he’s done an amazing job. This is obviously a difficult situation to be in. And I applaud his efforts here. And I love the guy. And I wish him well. And I hope he goes on to make a tremendous amount of money.”
Sarah Huckabee Sanders will take over as White House press secretary after Sean Spicer resigned his post on Friday, incoming White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said Friday as reported by the Washington Examiner.
“I’d like to announce formally that Sarah Huckabee Sanders is going to be the press secretary,” Scaramucci said.
Scaramucci made the announcement after Sanders introduced him to the White House press corps. Scaramucci said he would start in a few weeks, and Spicer, who has been serving as the interim communications director, said he would stay in his current job through August.
News about Spicer’s resignation came soon after Scaramucci had been announced as the new chief of the White House communications office. A Republican source close to the White House told the Examiner that Trump wanted Spicer to stay on as press secretary, but that he declined the offer.
Huckabee Sanders previously served as the principal deputy press secretary and has been conducting the vast majority of White House briefings in recent weeks, both on- and off-camera.
Huckabee Sanders is the daughter of former governor of Arkansas and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and former Arkansas first lady Janet Huckabee.
The 34-year-old mother of three is an evangelical Christian who is not reluctant to talk about her faith.
When faced with a tough question at the end of June about whether or not President Trump should be considered a role model after he posted an insulting tweet about a news anchor’s face lift, Sanders didn’t hesitate to say, “I think we all have one perfect role model and when I’m asked that question I point to God. I point to my faith.”
She was raised around politics: “When most kids at 7 or 8 are jumping rope, she’s sitting at the kitchen table listening to Dick Morris doing cross tabs on statewide polls,” recalled Gov. Huckabee as reported by CBN News.
Sanders reportedly speaks to her father most mornings before starting her day to get advice and encouragement.
When reporters start asking the same question over and over again in the briefing room, Sanders often tells them she’s used to it because she has a two-year-old.
Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, says Trump has a great deal of trust in Sanders.
She “understands America, she understands the president, and she understands how to connect the two,” Conway told The Associated Press.
Before joining the Trump team, Huckabee Sanders managed her father’s second presidential bid. During the campaign she said she was drawn to Trump’s outsider status and ability to truly change Washington.