Former Fox News executive Bill Shine, President Donald Trump's fifth communications director, has resigned, the White House said Friday.
Shine was communications director for just over eight months. He will work on Trump's re-election campaign after tendering his resignation Thursday night, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.
Shine said in a statement provided by the White House, "Serving President Trump and this country has been the most rewarding experience of my entire life. To be a small part of all this President has done for the American people has truly been an honor. I’m looking forward to working on President Trump’s reelection campaign and spending more time with my family."
Trump thanked Shine in the statement: "We will miss him in the White House, but look forward to working together on the 2020 Presidential Campaign, where he will be totally involved."
Shine was the fifth communications director in Trump's White House, following Sean Spicer, Mick Dubke, Anthony Scaramucci and, most recently, Hope Hicks.
The position has been the source of great scrutiny in an administration that has often vilified large swaths of the press. Scaramucci lasted just 11 days, and the the role has often been empty during the search for replacements.
Shine was appointed in July, a year after resigning from Fox News, where he was president. The news network had been mired in scandal over accusations of sexual and race-based harassment.
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He is one of the subjects of a New Yorker story published Monday that described in great detail the close ties between Fox News and the White House.
The network didn't comment to NBC News on the story, which prompted the Democratic National Committee to reject Fox News as a host for party's upcoming presidential primary debates.
"Recent reporting in the New Yorker on the inappropriate relationship between President Trump, his administration and FOX News has led me to conclude that the network is not in a position to host a fair and neutral debate for our candidates. Therefore," party chairman Tom Perez said in a statement.
During Shine's tenure, the once-daily news briefing became a rare event — it was last held Jan. 28. Sanders and other members of the White House communications office have frequently appeared on Fox News to answer questions instead.
In November, the administration officials took away the White House pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after a tense exchange during a news conference at the White House, in which an intern tried to take a microphone from Acosta. Sanders released a doctored video of the exchange that made Acosta seem like he lashed out at the intern when he didn't.
The White House backed down and restored Acosta's press pass after CNN filed suit and won a preliminary hearing. Fox News was one of the many news organizations that supported CNN in court.
