Sanders’ departure means a new voice for the White House. Only Trump knows who it will be.
Sarah Sanders stepped down as White House press secretary this week, leaving a new task for President Donald Trump: finding a new voice of the administration.
Sanders has been a key member that the president has turned to and has often bucked tradition under her tenure. She stopped hosting press briefings, a move that has been criticized by reporters. She and other top White House officials began hosting Q&As in the White House driveway. Sanders also brought the president's messaging to one of the president's most watched program: Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
Speculation has already begun on who will take Sanders' place when she leaves at the end of the month.
Sean Spicer, a former White House press secretary, said Friday that he believes the president has "plenty of good choices" already working in the White House or his administration. He also didn't rule out officials from outside the Trump administration.
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"At the end of the day, this is going to come down to who the president really feels has good chemistry with him," he said in an interview with Fox News. "Everybody who sees the president knows, he really takes communications very, very seriously. The words he uses, the tone of those words.
"So he's got to have that relationship and that chemistry with whomever the next person is," he continued.
Spicer, who served as Trump's first press secretary, began trying to find his replacement before actually stepping down, Politico reported at the time. Sanders, who was serving as deputy press secretary, filled in for Spicer on several occasions, which some commentators claimed was an audition for the position.
Hogan Gidley is the current deputy press secretary and has been a frequent guest on Fox News. In addition, he has repeatedly given gaggles outside the White House.
According to Reuters, Gidley is one of four candidates being considered. Former State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert; Stephanie Grisham, press secretary for first lady Melania Trump; and outgoing Treasury Department spokesman Tony Sayegh are also being considered, Retuers reported.
Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director, said
Sanders will "be a hard person to replace frankly because she has a gift."
"She's a force of nature for the president," he concluded.
Trump has at times acted as his own spokesperson.
On Friday, the president gave a nearly 50-minute, wide-ranging interview on Fox News. He also frequently tweets his thoughts on policies, to vent about stories surrounding him and to take on political opponents.
"It's gonna be up to the president to decide who he really has the chemistry with is," Spicer said. "But far be it for me to second guess who he feels will do the best job."
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sanders’ departure means a new voice for the White House. Only Trump knows who it will be.
