Though the elevation of former Fox News co-president Bill Shine to deputy White House communications chief of staff seems to draw even closer together the natural bedfellows of the Trump administration and Fox News, it’s actually exacerbating tensions between the two.
According to a Tuesday BuzzFeed News report, Shine’s acrimonious departure from Fox News will likely make him disinclined to do his old employer any favors. He was forced out more than a year ago due to claims that he helped cover up former CEO Roger Ailes’ alleged sexual harassment.
“The media consensus that this closes the circle between Fox and the White House is wrong,” a Fox News source told BuzzFeed. “Bill was fired under unhappy circumstances and felt thrown under the bus by his protégés who did not publicly defend him and now have replaced him.”
In addition, Shine’s great friend, Fox News host Sean Hannity, lobbied intensely for Shine to get the White House position, making him increasingly isolated within the network.
Hannity disputed this account on his radio show Tuesday, but he was reportedly already stepping on toes at the network because of his friendship with President Donald Trump and comfort with influencing him about Hannity’s own pet projects and causes.
