'Twould be rich. The former first lady of San Francisco, an SF native once married to the potential next liberal Democrat governor of California, is rumored to be next in line to take one of the most thankless jobs in America, Press Secretary of the White House. Fox News commentator Kimberly Guilfoyle, lately one of the co-hosts of The Five, was rumored last week to be in line as a possible replacement for embattled SNL punching bag Sean Spicer, and now she confirms to the San Jose Mercury-News that she has been in talks with members of the Trump administration, and that the possibility of her taking on a role there has been "raised by a number of people" in the White House.
The 48-year-old former prosecutor was rumored to be a leading candidate for the job back in December, and now Guilfoyle says of Spicer, the man who ultimately got it, "Sean Spicer is a very nice man and a patriot; he’s dedicated himself to this public service." And then, with a bit more obvious shade, "Very tough position he’s in I wish him the best, and I know he puts a lot of effort into it." Ouch.
After a hectic week at the White House, President Trump again floated the idea of canceling the traditional daily press briefings in an interview with Fox News, and if Guilfoyle comes aboard she could be ushering in a new era of weekly "personal" news conferences "every couple of weeks."
The New York Times mentioned Guilfoyle's name in this piece last week about how thankless a job it is to be Trump's surrogate, titled "‘Looking Like a Liar or a Fool’: What It Means to Work for Trump," suggesting though that Spicer had spent "several hours" with Trump last week, implying he was still in the loop.
And Guilfoyle was already gunning for the job on her show last week, responding to widespread criticisms of Spicer by saying, "If you want to be successful and do communications with President Trump, you have to be someone who he actually wants to spend a little bit of time with. You’ve got to insist on getting in front of POTUS, talk to him, and have like five, six minutes with him before you go out there and take the podium, and otherwise you’re driving blind." She added, having already spoken publicly about her personal friendship with Trump in New York she's known him for at least 10 year and her son Ronan, in fact, went to school with Trump's granddaughter Kai "It has to be somebody with a very close relationship, where there’s trust there, there’s inherent loyalty, someone who’s been there from the beginning."
The Mercury-News asked Guilfoyle if she'd talked to Gavin since these job rumors started flying, and she said, "He was cracking up he’s like, ‘Oh my goodness, you’re a rockstar, you’d be fantastic, but oh man.’ He was teasing me." Newsom declined to comment publicly, but that sounds a lot like "Good luck with that" if we're reading for tone.
Guilfoyle says that while she'd miss her colleagues at Fox in New York, the transition to DC would be an easy one. She tells the Merc, "Life is exciting and it’s about different chapters in your life, so I’m excited about the future."
Bets on whether Cecily Strong or Kate McKinnon will be cast as Guilfoyle?
Update: A spokesperson for Fox News reached out to give an official statement on this rumor, saying, "Kimberly is a valued member of the FOX News primetime lineup, and is under a long-term contract with the network."
Also, they provided a statement from Guilfoyle, through a spokesperson, who said, "As I stated in the interview, I really love what I do and my job co-hosting The Five is tough to beat."
Right, but, technically after that she said the part about "different chapters" and implied something might be coming "in the future."
Previously: Former Mrs. Newsom, Kimberly Guilfoyle, In Line To Be Trump's Press Secretary