Bill Shine a long time Fox News executive is moving to the White House where he serves as the deputy chief of staff for communications. The announcement came today and it was none other than President Donald Trump who made the announcement.
The White House said in a brief statement that Shine “brings over two decades of television programming, communications experience to the role.”
According to POLITICO Shine was forced out of Fox News in May 2017 over his handling of sexual harassment claims at the company. He will be the first official head of the White House communications department since longtime Trump aide Hope Hicks left the position in March.
Shine will be Trump’s fifth communications chief, succeeding Hicks, Anthony Scaramucci, Sean Spicer — who also worked as press secretary — and Michael Dubke.
The addition of Shine further solidifies Fox News’ relationship with the White House and he is a longtime friend of Trump ally Sean Hannity. Word has ir that President Trump is very comfortable with his understanding of how to get the message out.
According to NPR he is pleased to join the current press secretary Sarah Sanders. who herself has come under increasing scrutiny in the wake of President Trump’s zero-tolerance policy for illegal crossings on the southern U.S. border. She reportedly requested temporary Secret Service protection after she was asked to leave a restaurant in Virginia and said her family had received threats.
NPR reported that Fox News announced Shine’s resignation from the network in May 2017 in the aftermath of sexual harassment scandals at Fox that led to the departure of former Chairman Roger Ailes. who passed away, and host Bill O’Reilly. As NPR’s David Folkenflik has reported, Shine has never been accused of harassment himself, but women at the network alleged that Shine was aware of inappropriate behavior at Fox News and failed to properly address it. Shine denied those allegations.