The White House press team is bringing on Brian Morgenstern to serve as deputy communications director and deputy press secretary.
Morgenstern was previously the deputy assistant secretary for external affairs at the Department of the Treasury, where he served as a senior aide and chief speechwriter to Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and also worked as a liaison to the media and business communities.
“Brian is a smart lawyer, and an experienced and passionate advocate for the Trump administration’s pro-growth economic agenda. He will amplify the President’s focus on safely reopening our economy, and creating more jobs and higher wages for hard-working Americans,” press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who is a Georgetown graduate just like Morgenstern, said in a statement Monday.
While at Treasury, Morgenstern worked on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and most recently coordinated messaging and worked with business leaders to implement the Cares Act, the multi-trillion dollar rescue package signed by President Donald Trump at the end of March.
“He’s a master at public policy and understands how best to communicate the President’s economic message and successes,” said Tony Sayegh, a former Treasury Department spokesperson who went on to lead messaging about impeachment at the White House. “At Treasury, he was our go-to guy who could handle literally any challenge presented to our public affairs team. I could not be more delighted that he is going to be serving the president in such an important role.”
Strategic Communications Director Alyssa Farah added: “He understands how the President’s policies led to the lowest unemployment rates in generations for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and women.”
Morgenstern’s move from Treasury comes on the heels of major shake ups in the press and communications teams ahead of the election and as the White House tries to navigate messaging around the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, the president announced he plans to restart daily coronavirus briefings during a prime-time television slot, in addition to the frequent press briefings held by McEnany.
Before joining the Trump administration, Morgenstern, a graduate of Columbia Law School, worked as an attorney in New York City. He also worked in Republican politics — in 2008, he joined Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign and then went on to represent Giuliani in private life.
Morgenstern started his new role Monday.
from Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories https://ift.tt/32CHmpP
via 400 Since 1619
