White House assistant press secretary Kevin Munoz is set to depart his position, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced Thursday.
Munoz was a major force in handling the White House’s responses to COVID-19, abortion, healthcare and LGBTQ-related matters.
“Today, I have very sad news: A goodbye to one of our day ones, one of our OG [“original”] members of our team, Kevin Munoz, who’s sitting right here,” Jean-Pierre said at Thursday’s briefing. “Many of you know him. He was here since day one of this administration, and since Kevin joined the Biden world in 2019 for the campaign, he has affectionately been known as our ‘Florida man’ for his knowledge of all things Florida … if you have any questions about Florida, Kevin is your guy, that is his home state, of course.”
She said Munoz took on COVID challenges “without complaint” and successfully handled the Biden administration’s response and some of the “most complex” issues facing the U.S. As a Spanish speaker, he also became a communicator for the Hispanic community.
“Thank you for you dedication and your service,” she concluded, facing Munoz. (RELATED: Kamala Harris’ Chief Of Staff Set To Depart White House Post)
Munoz previously served as the Biden campaign’s Florida press secretary and was responsible for messaging on vaccines, boosters, mask mandates, variants, congressional funding and travel restrictions, CNN reported. He was also involved with the White House’s handling of monkeypox, the baby formula shortage and the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June.
Former White House senior medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci praised Munoz’s COVID-19 response in a statement to CNN.
“He’s an extremely competent guy – he gets things done and does it in a very smooth, no-drama approach,” Fauci said.
Munoz’s departure comes at a time of major staffing turnover during Jean-Pierre’s first year as press secretary. Jean-Pierre announced at the Feb. 23 briefing that two of her staffers — press assistant Megha Bhattacharya and her assistant, and Chief of Staff Robbie Dornbush — were departing the White House on the same day.
The press team witnessed a major shakeup in early June as three of Jean-Pierre’s top staffers — Vedant Patel, Mike Gwin and Amanda Finney — departed the White House in a single week. Patel left to serve as deputy press spokesperson of the State Department and Finney, the press office’s former chief of staff, left to become a senior communications director at the Energy Department.
Gwin joined the Treasury Department to serve as the deputy assistant secretary of public affairs.