Former Fox co-president Bill Shine, though still getting millions from his former employer, just resigned as Donald Trump’s communications chief and will move over to Trump’s re-election campaign.
Shine’s sudden resignation comes less than a week after Jane Mayer’s New Yorker bombshell painted a less-than-flattering portrait of the Trump White House as the “Fox News White House.”
As I noted on Monday, Trump was already displeased with Shine after only eight months on the job. Now, Shine becomes the sixth communications chief to leave the two-year-old administration.
According to The New York Times, Shine’s new job is a face-saving measure:
The White House sought to present Mr. Shine’s resignation as amicable and issued statements in the name of the president and other White House officials praising him. But people close to the White House described the campaign job as a way to save face.
[…]
Mr. Shine never developed a close relationship with Mr. Trump. The president frequently criticized him to other advisers, saying that his own press coverage had not improved, according to several people familiar with Mr. Trump’s comments. And he was seen as ineffective, developing few ideas.
He attached himself to Ivanka Trump, and tried to help out with her media coverage. But an ABC News interview that she did included a question about how she and her husband obtained their security clearances, which multiple White House officials said rankled her.
That begs the questions as to whether Princess Ivanka was a driving force in getting Shine the boot.
Also to be determined: whether this has negatively impacted Sean Hannity’s close relationship with Trump or will do so in the future. Hannity reportedly helped broker Shine’s White House job. Shine, a former producer of the old Hannity & Colmes show, has remained close to Trump’s Bedtime BFF Hannity. It's doubtful Hannity’s nose will move a millimeter lower inside Trump’s you-know-what. And it's a safe bet Trump will not turn on Hannity in any significant way so long as he keeps propagandizing for Dear Leader in prime time.
But will Hannity remain Trump’s unofficial chief of staff after this? Stay tuned.
(Shine image via screen grab)