John Hogan Gidley is an American political aide who served as White House Deputy Press Secretary from 2019 to 2020 in the Donald Trump administration. In July 2020, Gidley became the press secretary of Trump's reelection campaign.[1]
Hogan Gidley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| White House Deputy Press Secretary | |
| In office January 31, 2019 – July 1, 2020 Acting: January 14, 2019 – January 31, 2019 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Raj Shah |
| Succeeded by | Brian R. Morgenstern |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Hogan Gidley September 16, 1976[citation needed] El Dorado, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | University of Mississippi (BA) |
Early life and career
editGidley was born in El Dorado, Arkansas.[2] He graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in broadcast journalism and a minor in political science in 1998.[2] In college, Gidley was a member of the Young Republicans and of the Sigma Chi fraternity.
Career
editGidley served as the director of Huck PAC.[3] His past activities include director of media operations for Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Executive Director of the South Carolina Republican Party, Press Secretary to the David Beasley for Senate campaign, the Karen Floyd for Superintendent of Education campaign, and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole's campaign committee. He was director of communications for Rick Santorum's 2012 presidential campaign.
Trump administration
editThe Trump administration announced on October 10, 2017, that Gidley would serve as Deputy Press Secretary, and he started his job at the White House the next day.[4]
In February 2018, Gidley said that Trump was speaking "tongue-in-cheek" when he said it was "treasonous" for Democrats not to applaud him during the State of the Union address.[5] Later that February, after Special Counsel Mueller's investigation led to the indictments of a number of Russians for election interference, Gidley said that Democrats and the media had done more to create "chaos" in the United States than the Russian government.[6]
In January 2019, Gidley was promoted to deputy press secretary, succeeding Raj Shah. In June 2019, he was considered a candidate for White House Press Secretary when Sarah Sanders announced she was stepping down from the role.[7] Stephanie Grisham was named to the position, with Gidley continuing as deputy press secretary.[8]
On September 5, 2019, Gidley and Grisham published an opinion piece in The Washington Times, "The Washington Post's lost summer". They asserted the Post had not reported on several Trump accomplishments, although the paper actually had reported on them. The piece linked to a Post story titled "Trump becomes first sitting president to set foot into North Korea" as the authors asserted the paper had not reported that event.[9][10]
In June 2020, Gidley resigned as deputy press secretary to serve as the national press secretary of the Trump reelection campaign.[11] He was succeeded as deputy press secretary by Brian R. Morgenstern, a former official in the United States Department of the Treasury.[12]
In January 2021, after being asked by Fox's Bill Hemmer whether Donald Trump had been emasculated by his removal from social media, Gidley called Trump "the most masculine person to ever hold the White House."[13]
References
edit- ^ "Trump campaign names Hogan Gidley as new press secretary". www.cbsnews.com. CBS News. June 24, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
- ^ a b Pender, Geoff (October 11, 2017). "Ole Miss alum named deputy White House press secretary". The Clarion-Ledger.
- ^ PAC, Huck. "Huck PAC". www.huckpac.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2010.
- ^ Rucker, Philip (October 10, 2017). "Trump Hires Hogan Gidley as a White House Spokesman". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
- ^ Wagner, John (February 6, 2018). "Trump was speaking 'tongue in cheek' when he said Democrats were 'treasonous,' spokesman says". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
- ^ Bowden, John (February 17, 2018). "White House spokesman: Dems, media have created more 'chaos' than the Russians". The Hill. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
- ^ Panetta, Grace (June 14, 2019). "Here's who could replace Sarah Sanders as Trump's White House press secretary". Business Insider. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
- ^ "Longtime Trump Aide Stephanie Grisham Will Succeed Sanders as Press Secretary". Independent Journal Review, Reuters. June 25, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
- ^ "Stephanie Grisham Claims Washington Post Didn't Cover Stories The Paper Actually Did Cover". September 6, 2019.
- ^ "The Washington Post's lost summer". Washington Examiner. September 5, 2019.
- ^ "Trump campaign names Hogan Gidley as new press secretary". www.cbsnews.com. CBS News. June 24, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "White House adds top Treasury aide to press team". Politico. July 20, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ Relman, Eliza. "Former White House spokesman Hogan Gidley says Trump is the 'most masculine' president in US history". Business Insider. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
