Arkansas native Sarah Huckabee Sanders replaces Spicer as press secretary

FILE — White House spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders is shown in this July 11, 2017 photo.
FILE — White House spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders is shown in this July 11, 2017 photo.

New York financier Anthony Scaramucci has been formally named White House communications director and Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been promoted to press secretary in the Trump White House's latest shakeup.

Trump says in a statement read by Sanders that he's "grateful" for departing press secretary Sean Spicer's "work on behalf of my administration and the American people."

He adds: "Just look at his great television ratings!"

Scaramucci also is addressing reporters at the White House. He calls Spicer "a true American patriot" and says he hopes Spicer "goes on to make a tremendous amount of money."

Sanders is the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

photo

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

FILE — White House press secretary Sean Spicer does a television interview at the White House, Friday, June 23, 2017, in Washington.

EARLIER:

WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Sean Spicer abruptly resigned his position Friday, ending a rocky six-month tenure that made his news briefings must-see TV. He said President Donald Trump's White House "could benefit from a clean slate."

Spicer quit in protest over the hiring of a new White House communications director, New York financier Anthony Scaramucci, objecting to what Spicer considered his lack of qualifications and to the direction of the press operation, according to people familiar with the situation.

Spicer said during a brief phone conversation with The Associated Press that he felt it would be best for Scaramucci to be able to build his own operation "and chart a new way forward."

He tweeted that it had been an "honor" and "privilege" to serve Trump and he would remain in his post through August.

Spicer had long sought the strategic communications job for himself and had been managing that role along with his press secretary duties for nearly two months.

His decision to quit was sudden and took advisers inside and outside the White House by surprise, according to the people with knowledge of the decision. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the personnel matter publicly.

Spicer's daily press briefings had become must-watch television until recent weeks when he took on a more behind-the-scenes role. Deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has largely taken over the briefings, turning them into off-camera events.

Spicer spent several years leading communications at the Republican National Committee before helping Trump's campaign in the general election. He is close to White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, the former RNC chair, and several of the lower-ranking aides in the White House communications shop.

Priebus told The Associated Press that he supports Scaramucci "100 percent," despite reportedly trying to prevent the financier from getting multiple administration positions.

"We go back a long, long way and are very good friends," Priebus said of Scaramucci. "All good here."

Spicer also complimented Scaramucci, a New York financier and frequent defender of the president who was a staple at Trump Tower during the president's transition, saying "It

'll be great, he's a tough guy."

Scaramucci is expected to play a visible role as one of Trump's defenders on television. But Spicer and other officials questioned his hiring as communications director ahead of the president's push to overhaul the tax system and other policy issues.

Spicer and other press staffers had been feeling that they finally had the press shop operating effectively, aside from matters related to the Russia investigation, said one of the people familiar with the situation.

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