Former Trump Aide To Join Conservative Broadcasting Group As Political Analyst

Boris Epshteyn, special assistant to President Donald Trump, walks into the West Wing of the White House, Wednesday, March 8, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Boris Epshteyn, special assistant to President Donald Trump, walks into the West Wing of the White House, Wednesday, March 8, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Sinclair Broadcast Group announced on Monday that former White House aide Boris Epshteyn has joined the conservative media company as its “chief political analyst.”

“Mr. Epshteyn brings a unique perspective to the political conversation,” Sinclair vice president of news Scott Livingston said in a statement.

In the same statement, Epshteyn said that he was “honored and grateful” to join Sinclair.

Epshteyn worked as special assistant to President Donald Trump and assistant communications director for surrogate operations during the first months of Trump’s administration, but reportedly left those positions in March. Politico reported at the time that Epshteyn was expected to take another role in the administration.

Before his departure, Epshteyn was responsible for booking White House officials and surrogates on news networks. According to a report by the New York Times, he became increasingly combative with the latter, including Trump-friendly Fox News.

As for Sinclair Broadcast Group, Politico reported in December 2016 that Trump’s campaign made a deal with the media company for uncritical coverage in exchange for access. According to that report, Trump son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner said that Sinclair agreed to broadcast interviews with Trump without adding its own commentary in exchange for more access to Trump and his campaign.

Livingston said at the time that Sinclair offered both candidates airtime for extended interviews with local anchors.

“Our promise was to give all candidates an opportunity to voice their position share their position with our viewers,” he said, per Politico. “Certainly we presented an opportunity so that Mr. Trump could clearly state his position on the key issues.”

Sinclair-owned Washington, D.C. affiliate station WJLA was one of the few outlets that Trump took a question from in February during a series of press conferences where he called exclusively on conservative news outlets.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: