Former Navy SEAL Carl Higbie is now in talks to join the White House’s communications team, despite initially being more interested in serving at the State Department or the Department of Defense, a source familiar with the matter tells The Daily Caller News Foundation.
This source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that because Higbie is a former Navy SEAL, he’s able to put the mission in front of politics or personal agenda and will also have the backing of the veteran community, which has been important to Trump in his personnel selection for top positions.
Moreover, Higbie has said he’s supported Trump since day one. Higbie told Fox Business on Monday that he “would be honored to serve in any capacity.”
Higbie recently went after GOP Sen. John McCain for attacking Trump’s Jan. 29 Yemen Raid, which resulted in the death of a Navy SEAL. Trump called the mission a “winning mission,” while McCain referred to the raid as a “failure.”
“I think John McCain does owe an apology to the Owens family,” Higbie said last Thursday. “I think it was dishonorable of him, too … He called it an unsuccessful mission because of a plane crash? This is a guy who crashed an enormous amount of planes during training. Look, these things happen, and it’s not an unsuccessful mission just simply because John McCain doesn’t like Trump.”
As to what position Higbie may end up with, two senior administration officials recently told the Washingtonian that he’s interviewing for the position of White House press secretary, which Higbie denied.
A Trump spokeswoman told The NY Daily News on Saturday that the report of Higbie interviewing for that particular position is “completely false.”
Higbie clarified Saturday that he’s talked to the administration about communications positions, but hasn’t had a formal interview.
President Donald Trump is reportedly displeased with current White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s performance in the first several weeks of the administration. This displeasure has apparently hit White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, as well, since Priebus strongly vouched for Spicer, even though Trump was somewhat reticent about selecting him for the role.
As such, CNN reported that the White House is looking for a new communications director, as currently, Spicer is filling both the role of press secretary and communications director.
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