Renzo Downey
Christina Pushaw, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Press Secretary, departed her administrative role Friday to join the Republican Governor’s re-election campaign.
The Florida Standard, a conservative new media outlet, was the first to report Pushaw’s shuffle and published her resignation letter, which Pushaw sent to Chief of Staff James Uthmeier and Director of Administration Dawn Hanson on Friday. She will become the campaign’s Director of Rapid Response beginning Monday.
Deputy Press Secretary Bryan Griffin will step in as lead Press Secretary on Monday, where he will report directly to Communications Director Taryn Fenske.
“It has been a great honor to serve the people of Florida under the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis and his administration,” Pushaw began her letter.
“For the last 15 months, I have been blessed to work with the most dedicated and talented public servants in the country, inspired by the Governor’s courage, leadership and bold agenda.”
Pushaw thanked DeSantis, Uthmeier and Fenske for her time as Press Secretary.
“You gave me latitude to respond to media narratives in direct and often unconventional ways, allowing me to redefine this role for a leader whose actions speak for themselves,” she wrote.
Pushaw’s tenure in the administration has been characterized by her combative relationship with the legacy and mainstream media, including the Florida GOP shutting most media outlets out of its Sunshine Summit last month. Meanwhile, DeSantis and Pushaw have sat down with conservative outlets, like Florida’s Voice.
“Now, the gloves are off,” Pushaw tweeted Friday.
Griffin, who was hired in March, has taken a similar combative approach. Last week, he published his email response to The View after the morning talk show requested an interview with DeSantis. In the email, Bryan quoted The View hosts’ past statements about DeSantis and questioned whether The View was genuinely in “pursuit of the truth.”
“It has been an honor to work with and learn from (Christina Pushaw). I look forward to serving (Gov. Ron DeSantis) and the people of Florida in this new role. Like Christina did so well, I will ensure the Governor’s message is amplified and that false narratives are debunked,” Griffin tweeted Friday.
Griffin told Florida Politics he first met Pushaw at the Warsaw Security Forum in 2019, where they were both participants in the forum’s New Security Leaders program.
Griffin has received multiple undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Florida, including his law degree in 2013. He also received a masters in international affairs from Columbia University. Past work include his time as national field director for the pro-Israel Maccabee Task Force and as a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research.
The move comes with less than three months to go until the Nov. 8 Midterms and a little more than a week until the General Election season begins.
Pushaw, the most prominent gubernatorial Press Secretary in the nation, has sparked controversy at times. She has been accused of writing antisemitic tweets and scrutinized for her past work in Eastern Europe. Pushaw also was suspended from Twitter for 12 hours for violating the platform’s user guidelines after dogging an Associated Press reporter for his story pointing out that a DeSantis donor was also an investor in a leading COVID-19 treatment the Governor was promoting.
In her letter, Pushaw noted some of the administration’s achievements during her tenure, all of which DeSantis is expected to campaign on when he faces his Democratic challenger, either U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist or Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. She noted the administration’s efforts to end mandates, focus on education, drive the economy, support families and parental rights, and protect law and order.
“As the Governor said earlier this year, ‘Together, we have made Florida the freest state in the United States,'” Pushaw wrote. “The chance to play even a small part in achieving this has truly been the opportunity of a lifetime.”
15 comments
tom palmer
August 12, 2022 at 1:11 pm
That'[s gpod news for DeSantis’ Democratic opponent., The woman doesn’t appear to have much grace and will probably continue to insult and alienate everyone everywhere.
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Joe Corsin
August 12, 2022 at 1:23 pm
Vote out the crooks and far right propagandists. Vote Jesus Crist so send the dried up conservative mummies to an early grave. Vote Crist to clean up the white supremacist, anti-government terrorists in Florida. Vote Crist to annihilate the illegal militias and the grifters they protect.
Gary
August 12, 2022 at 5:59 pm
All Gillum voters like Joe have ZERO credibility, and in all honesty, should have their right to vote revoked.
Charlotte Greenbarg
August 12, 2022 at 2:06 pm
There you go again Joe frothing at the mouth! 😜🤪
David in Shoreline
August 12, 2022 at 2:27 pm
Thank you Christina for your efforts to communicate the great work Governor DeSantis has done for the citizens of Florida!
Kevin L
August 12, 2022 at 4:08 pm
Terrible Botox job.
Anyway, any port in a storm, I guess?
It's Complicated
August 12, 2022 at 5:36 pm
Pushaw has truly mastered the art of ‘living rent-free’ in the thoughts of leftists across this nation.
Gary
August 12, 2022 at 6:02 pm
Talk about a cushy job. Running the campaign of somebody that’s going to win by 15 points could be done in her sleep
SaveAmericaNow
August 12, 2022 at 6:09 pm
Pushaw is not America First and neither is Griffin. Warsaw Security Forum c’mon thats all anyone needs to know about Desantis’s true Deep State Ties.
We all know that Desantis was in on the FBI raid and judging by his crew it shouldn’t be surprising at all. The GOP and Desantis will pay for what they did to Trump!
Ocean Joe
August 13, 2022 at 11:26 am
I am sure the check is already in the mail.
rusty
August 13, 2022 at 8:28 am
The bitch has been working for DeSatan’s campaign all along sucking on the government nipple. She makes me want to vomit. What the heck does she mean by taking her gloves off? She should take her panties off and stuff them in her big mouth and snort molly with Rona’s “campaign manager” Matt like in the good old days before the FBI started snooping around. Sleazy, gross, anti-American losers all.
Gary
August 13, 2022 at 9:11 am
You seem stable.
YYep
August 14, 2022 at 2:15 pm
I don’t know this pushahh but she isn’t the earthquake in my backyard sounds to be a third party of Donald trump’s runoff election results
YYep
August 14, 2022 at 2:22 pm
No IAM not supposed to judge
Catherine
August 23, 2022 at 10:18 am
DeSantis better be wary. Griffin’s long-term goal to be president.
Comments are closed.