Less than 48 hours after the surprise resignation of White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, the White House is moving closer to naming her successor as the President’s top spokesman.
Several sources close to the White House said that the announcement of President Trump’s third press secretary since taking office could come as early as next week.
In addition, the same sources said there was a growing possibility that, with a new press secretary in place, the President might restore the daily televised briefings that have been missing since March 12.
As Newsmax reported shortly after the President tweeted Sanders’ departure on Thursday, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley remains the front-runner for the job.
Like Sanders, Gidley is from Arkansas and has a close association with the outgoing press secretary and her father, former Gov. Mike Huckabee. Trump has voiced praise for Gidley when he filled in for Sanders at briefings and fired back at reporters critical of the Administration.
Three other names are also considered under close consideration for the position: Stephanie Grisham, communications director for First Lady Melania Trump; former State Department spokeswoman and onetime Fox News correspondent Heather Nauert; and Treasury Department spokesman Tony Sayegh.
Both Nauert and Sayegh were reportedly on the “short list” for press secretary last year when rumors were rampant that Sanders was leaving.
Grisham is a fresh addition to the prospective press secretary list and got considerable notice Friday when the President singled her out as a “terrific” possibility as his top spokesman during an interview on “Fox and Friends.”
Fellow White House correspondents voiced strong hope about the latest reports the White House was considering restoring the daily briefings under the next press secretary.
“The next press secretary should insist the briefings be restored,” Linda Feldmann, Washington bureau chief of the “Christian Science Monitor” and its White House correspondent, told us, “And he or she should make the case that the briefings can work to the President’s advantage.”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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