President Donald Trump has finally picked someone to take over as White House communications director, a position that has technically been empty since Jason Miller left before the election. Mike Dubke, a Republican media strategist, will fill the role, officials told multiple news outlets.
Though the announcement hasn’t been made yet, Trump was expected to make it official sometime Friday.
Dubke founded Crossroads Media in 2001, a firm that has described itself as the “premier Republican media services firm” on its website. Crossroads, based in Alexandria, Virginia, has specialized in “advertising strategy and placement for political candidates, issue advocacy organizations and trade associations.” The group has worked extensively with American Crossroads, a super-PAC started by former Republican White House strategist Karl Rove.
Dubke also founded the Black Rock Group, a communications and public affairs firm that served as the strategists behind Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s successful re-election campaign in 2016. He has been involved in local, state and federal politics since 1988, according to his Crossroads Media biography, and served as the co-founder and president of a pro-business advocacy organization called Americans for Job Security. Dubke and his wife, Shannon, reportedly live with their two teenaged boys only eight miles away from the White House.
At least two candidates were offered the communications director job and turned it down, citing the difficulties of the role in the current administration, Politico reported earlier in February.
“The communications director job in the White House has always functioned as the strategic planning job, understanding the necessity of building and maintaining public approval for the president’s policies,” Steve Schmidt, who ran John McCain’s presidential campaign, told Politico. “And when you look at the complete and total chaos emanating from the White House on a number of issues, it’s clear they have no strategic planning function.”
The position of White House communications director was previously being held jointly by Press Secretary Sean Spicer, though it was a separate role. Dubke will now work alongside Spicer, reported CNN’s Jim Acosta.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer holds up paperwork during a daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., Jan. 30, 2017. Spicer is currently serving as both the press secretary and director of communications. Photo: Getty
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