WILMINGTON, DE: President-elect Joe Biden has named an all-female White House communications team for his incoming administration, with Kate Bedingfield and Jen Psaki in the key roles of communications director and White House press secretary, respectively.
The Biden transition team said in a statement on Sunday evening that Bedingfield, deputy campaign manager and communications director of the Biden-Harris campaign, will transition into the top communications role in the West Wing. Bedingfield was Biden’s communications director during his tenure as vice president. More recently in the private sector, she was VP of corporate communications at the Motion Picture Association of America.
Psaki, White House communications director under President Barack Obama, was named White House press secretary. She is currently overseeing the Biden-Harris transition’s confirmations team. Before joining the Biden campaign, Psaki was VP for communications and strategy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Two other campaign aides who had been widely considered as top contenders for White House press secretary will join the Biden administration in other communications roles. Karine Jean-Pierre will serve as principal deputy press secretary after serving as senior adviser to Biden and chief of staff to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris during the campaign. Symone Sanders, senior adviser to the Biden team, has been named senior adviser and chief spokesperson for Harris. Before joining the campaign, Sanders was principal of strategic communications consultancy 360 Group and press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) 2016 presidential bid.
Pili Tobar was appointed deputy White House communications director after serving as communications director for coalitions during the campaign. She has also worked as deputy director for immigrant advocacy organization America’s Voice.
The Biden-Harris transition team also named Elizabeth Alexander as communications director for first-lady-to-be Jill Biden. Before her tenure as a senior adviser to the campaign, Alexander served as Biden’s press secretary in the Obama administration and communications director when Biden was a senator. A former federal prosecutor, Alexander also had a stint as senior MD at FTI Consulting.
Fellow campaign senior adviser Ashley Etienne was named communications director for Harris. She has served as communications director and senior adviser to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and special assistant to the president and director of communications for the cabinet in the Obama administration.
