Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki will begin appearing on MSNBC this fall and host an original program in the coming year currently under development for streaming on Peacock, MSNBC President Rashida Jones announced Tuesday.
Psaki held her final White House briefing May 13 following reports in April that she was planning to leave the Biden administration to take an on-air role at MSNBC.
Jones said the network tapped Psaki, 43, for her “extensive experience in government and on the campaign trail and perspective as a White House and Washington insider.”
“She’s a familiar face and trusted authority to MSNBC viewers, and we look forward to her insight during this consequential election season,” Jones said in a statement.
Psaki was President Joe Biden’s press secretary for just over a year and three months.
It’s not uncommon for news networks to tap Washington officials and spokespeople to contribute to political coverage. In March 2021, Fox News hired Kayleigh McEnany, a press secretary under President Donald Trump, as an on-air contributor, and CBS News in March signed Mick Mulvaney, an acting chief of staff under Trump, as a paid contributor.
NBC News and MSNBC share the same parent company, NBCUniversal.
Psaki, a Washington veteran, had been a communications director in the Obama administration and a spokeswoman for the State Department.
Jones said that Psaki’s show will debut on MSNBC’s hub on the Peacock streaming service in the first quarter of 2023 and that Psaki will also appear on NBC and in MSNBC’s prime-time special election programming throughout the midterms and the 2024 presidential election cycle.
“My time in government, from the White House to the State Department, and years before that on national political campaigns will fuel the insight and perspective I bring to this next chapter,” Psaki said in a statement.
