Psaki leaves White House to become show host on MSNBC
Psaki is not the last White House employee to leave for a job for a media agency.
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Jen Psaki was Barack Obama's communications director, and now she may be the former press secretary for the White House.
The press secretary for the White House, Jen Psaki, plans to leave the White House for an on-air job at a prominent US news channel, MSNBC, according to a source familiar with the matter to CNBC.
Psaki is expected to leave the White House in May, according to Axios on Friday. She is to host a show for NBC Universal's streaming platform, Peacock, and has been in talks with CNN and other networks.
Psaki did not immediately respond to CNBC's request to comment on the matter.
“We don’t have anything to confirm about Jen’s length of planned service or any consideration about future plans,” a White House official told CNBC by email.
“Jen is here and working hard every day on behalf of the President to get you the answers to the questions that you have, and that’s where her focus is.”
News networks look to recruit spokespeople and other high-profile individuals for political day-to-day political coverage as anchors and regular contributors.
George Stephanopoulos, an ABC News host, for example, was formerly the White House communications director under Bill Clinton, former US president. Nicolle Wallace, an MSNBC political analyst, was also the senior spokesperson for the George W. Bush administration and for John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. Donald Trump's last press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, joined Fox News as a commentator.
