Anthony Scaramucci took the podium Friday July 21st, on camera, looking both prepared and poised, to address the departure of press secretary Sean Spicer and the appointment of Sarah Huckabee Sanders to the press secretary role Sean Spicer resigned from earlier in the morning. Huckabee Sanders' appointment was not a major surprise following speculation over the last several months that she would assume the role, though the White House had worked hard to quiet those rumors. Huckabee Sanders, as the Deputy Press Secretary, has been holding solo press briefings for months and has acted as press secretary in many ways over the last month, making her a very familiar face to reporters.
Anthony Scaramucci announces new press secretary
Huckabee Sanders introduced Anthony Scaramucci and handled some questions about her appointment and what to expect moving forward at the end of Scaramucci's time at the podium, immediately taking the reins, while stating that Sean Spicer will stay on for the next couple weeks to help with the transition. Fielding some of the hard questions that have been largely kept off camera over the last month regarding the president's legal team, Russia investigation, and Healthcare Bill arm twisting, Huckabee Sanders largely deflected, not really offering any new information.
When addressing speculation about a power structure change to put the press secretary directly under the Communications Director rather than the chief of staff, both Scaramucci and Huckabee Sanders seemed to skirt the question, giving answers that seemed to agree that they would all be working together.
Aside from not agreeing with Anthony Scaramucci's qualifications, it appeared that a major reason for Sean's Spicer's resignation revolved around not wanting to work under Anthony Scaramucci, according to some inside sources.
Scaramucci spoke positively about both Sean Spicer and Reince Priebus
Scaramucci expressed good will toward Sean Spicer's future endeavors and commented that Spicer did a good job in a difficult situation; addressing the fact that Spicer wanted to leave a "clean slate" as the President brought in new staff, and thanked him for his service.
Reince Priebus, who had also voiced some concerns about Scaramucci's appointment and had previously been directly responsible for the retraction of Anthony Scaramucci's appointment to be Director Of The Office Of Public Liaison during the transition, was also spoken highly of by Scaramucci. Scaramucci described his and Priebus' relationship as being "like brothers" and that they liked to "rough each other up." Scaramucci said that he looked forward to working with Priebus and knew they would have a good working relationship.
