Brian R. Morgenstern

Last updated
Brian Morgenstern
White House Deputy Press Secretary
In office
July 20, 2020 January 20, 2021
President Donald Trump
Leader Kayleigh McEnany
Preceded by Hogan Gidley
Succeeded by Karine Jean-Pierre
Personal details
Born
Brian Robert Morgenstern
Education Georgetown University (BA)
Columbia University (JD)

Brian Robert Morgenstern is an American attorney and political advisor who served as White House Deputy Press Secretary to Kayleigh McEnany from 2020 to 2021. Appointed in July 2020, Morgenstern succeeded Hogan Gidley, who left the White House Office to serve on the Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign.

Contents

Early life and education

Morgenstern was raised in New Jersey. In high school, he participated in the United States House of Representatives page program, where he was assigned to the office of Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen. [1]

Morgenstern earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from Georgetown University and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School. [2] [3] As an undergraduate, Morgenstern was president of the Georgetown University Student Organization and a member of Alpha Kappa Delta. [4] [5]

Career

After graduating from law school, Morgenstern worked as an attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in New York City. While working in New York, he hosted a comedy variety show at Stand Up NY, which featured various political pundits. He was also the president of The New York Young Republican Club. [6]

Morgenstern joined the United States Department of the Treasury in August 2017, where he served as deputy assistant secretary for external affairs and worked to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. [7] At the Department of the Treasury, Morgenstern served as a chief speechwriter and senior aide to Steven Mnuchin. [8] In July 2020, Morgenstern was selected to serve as White House Deputy Press Secretary and deputy White House Communications Director, succeeding Hogan Gidley. [9] [10] [11]

In October 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Morgenstern was criticized for refusing to answer questions regarding Trump's health following the president's diagnosis with COVID-19. [12] [13] [14] [15] His refusal to answer questions regarding Trump's last negative coronavirus test, considering the president's recent outdoor campaign rallies that may have exposed attendees to the virus, drew condemnation from various commentators. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

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References

  1. Staff, Politico. "BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Brian Morgenstern, White House deputy comms director and deputy press secretary". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  2. Perlman, Derek Kravitz,Al Shaw,Claire. "Brian Robert Morgenstern | Trump Town". ProPublica. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  3. "Brian R. Morgenstern, Lawyer at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP | LawyerDB.org". www.lawyerdb.org. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  4. "GUSA official steps down". The Georgetown Voice. 2003-09-11. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  5. "Alpha Kappa Delta Honor Society". Department of Sociology. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  6. Campbell, Colin. "New York Young Republican Resigns After Worrying About The 'United States Of Gaymeria'". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  7. Drucker, Jesse; Tankersley, Jim (2019-12-30). "How Big Companies Won New Tax Breaks From the Trump Administration". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  8. Summary of Public Stakeholder Briefings on Proposed Regulations Implementing FIRRMA by Senior Treasury Officials
  9. "White House adds top Treasury aide to press team". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  10. Palmer, Anna; Sherman, Jake. "POLITICO Playbook: Warning: Turbulence ahead". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  11. Jacobs, Emily (2020-07-21). "Trump campaign sees more staff shake-ups after Brad Parscale demotion". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  12. Chalfant, Morgan. "Trump spokesman repeatedly dodges questions on last negative coronavirus test". The Hill. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  13. Rieger, JM. "The White House has dodged questions for six straight days about when Trump last tested negative for the coronavirus". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  14. Collins, Michael. "Trump claims he no longer has COVID-19 as White House dodges questions on whether he has tested negative". USA Today. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  15. Waller, John. "Video: MSNBC's Hallie Jackson presses White House deputy press secretary on Trump's last negative COVID-19 test for over 5 minutes". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  16. Burnett, Eric. "White House official shares how staff is interacting with Trump". CNN. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  17. Jackson, Hallie. "WH press official repeatedly pressed over date of Trump's last negative Covid test". MSNBC. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  18. Simmons-Duffin, Selena. "The Many, Maddening Hurdles To Contact Tracing The White House Outbreak". NPR. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  19. Seddiq, Oma. "White House spokesman refuses to answer when Trump's last negative COVID-19 test was 6 times in one interview". Business Insider. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  20. "White House spokesman sidesteps question on Trump's last negative coronavirus test". MSN. Retrieved 12 October 2020.