Last week, a report by The Washingtonian questioned whether or not the Donald Trump presidential campaign’s former media surrogate, Katrina Pierson was ever offered a job by the White House. Pierson, whose frequent cable news appearances baffled Megyn Kelly and Jake Tapper alike, was a favorite for the press secretary gig that ultimately went to Sean Spicer. Yet seemingly knowledgeable sources consulted by The Washingtonian suggested Pierson, who claimed she was offered a post but turned it down, wasn’t telling the whole story.
To make sense of it all, The Daily Beast reached out to Pierson and the White House for official comments. In an email, Spicer said he “personally” offered her the deputy press secretary role, which she “accepted.” He added, “I was excited to have her on the team” but “she ultimately decided to pursue another role.” Meanwhile Pierson reiterated much of what she told The Washingtonian earlier: “I made a personal decision to remain on the outside for now. I have plenty of time to serve.” The role Pierson took instead involves working for America First Policies, a new nonprofit measure designed to bolster Trump’s agenda outside Washington.
Yet Spicer and Pierson’s remarks don’t square away with the original report, so The Daily Beast dug into its own source pool for answers. Two former Trump campaign officials suggested the split between the media surrogate and the White House came about not because of Pierson’s professional ambitions, but because of Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus’ dissatisfaction with her. In an email, one of the anonymous sources wrote “what do you think lol” when asked about the matter, adding: “DJT (Trump) I know wanted her in the WH.”
Despite the apparent animosity between the two camps, however, Pierson stressed she and the two bosom buddies were on good terms. “They were both very supportive,” she explained to the The Daily Beast. “I’ve been on team Trump since the beginning so I’ll say again that it’s very strange to hear otherwise, particularly from ‘unnamed’ sources that were likely not on the Trump team in the beginning.”
(Via The Daily Beast)