NEW YORK (AP) — MSNBC has hired Symone Sanders, former aide to President Joe Biden and spokeswoman for Vice President Kamala Harris, to host shows on its television and streaming services.
The announcement Monday continues the trend of political veterans jumping to cable news, often at dizzying speeds. Sanders announced only last month that she was leaving her job as chief spokesperson for Harris.
Sanders, 32, will host a Washington-based weekend show on MSNBC, along with a program on “The Choice from MSNBC,” a news and analysis destination on the Peacock streaming service.
MSNBC President Rashida Jones, who announced the hiring, was not immediately made available for an interview.
Sanders, from Omaha, Nebraska, was press secretary for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. She worked as a commentator for CNN following that campaign before signing on as a senior adviser to Biden’s campaign in 2020. A former fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, she wrote the book “No, You Shut Up: Speaking Truth to Power and Reclaiming America in 2020.”
She’ll have plenty of company among former political pros working in cable TV. Former George W. Bush spokeswoman Nicolle Wallace and ex-congressman Joe Scarborough are major MSNBC stars, and David Axelrod, former top aide to Barack Obama, works at CNN.
After Donald Trump left the presidency last year, Fox News quickly snapped up his ex-press secretary Kayleigh McEnany as a commentator and aide Larry Kudlow, the longtime CNBC host, to do a show on the Fox Business Network. Trump’s first press secretary, Sean Spicer, hosts a show on Newsmax.
Sanders, who is Black, is also part of NBC News chief Cesar Conde’s stated effort to boost diversity at the news division. Joy Reid, Jose Diaz-Balart, Alicia Menendez, Joshua Johnson, Mehdi Hasan, Ayman Mohyeldin and Jonathan Capehart have all begun hosting roles at MSNBC since Conde announced new diversity goals in mid-2020.
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