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Uber DC Hosts 2022 Midterm Election Preview feat. Jonathan Martin, Symone Sanders, and Liam Donovan 

July 19, 2022 By WHC Insider

Symone Sanders, Jonathan Martin, and Liam Donovan

Uber’s federal affairs team hosted a conversation previewing the midterms at their D.C. office on Monday evening. The New York Times’s Jonathan Martin moderated the conversation with Symone Sanders, Host of MSNBC’s Symone, and Liam Donovan, NRSC veteran, and GOP commentator.

CR Wooters presenting Symone Sanders with a bottle of champagne

CR Wooters, Uber’s Head of Federal Affairs, presented recently married Symone Sanders with a bottle of champagne when she arrived to kick off the evening. Guests mingled over light appetizers and drinks, and Jonathan Martin signed copies of his new book, This Will Not Pass. 

CR Wooters making remarks

The panel touched on every aspect of politics today and the top issues facing voters in November. Symone, Jonathan, and Liam discussed President Biden’s dismal approval rating, hot states for the midterms like Georgia and Michigan, the January 6th committee hearings, and whether former President Trump will announce a run for 2024.

Jonathan Martin poses as he autographs books
Uber’s CR Wooters with Symone Sanders, Jonathan Martin, and Liam Donovan

SPOTTED: Paul Kane, Josh Dawsey, Adrienne Elrod, Steve Benjamin, Heather Podesta, Ali Rubin, Rachel Levitan, Dan Meyers, Daniel Strauss, David Schnittger, Alex Conant, Alice Stewart, CR Wooters, Meridith McGraw, Rebecca Buck and Bryan DeAngelis.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: DC, Jonathan Martin, Liam Donovan, Media, Midterms, Symone Sanders, Uber, Washington, White House

Top Biden-Harris Strategist Symone Sanders To Join MSNBC 

January 10, 2022 By margaretmturner

Symone D. Sanders, the former Senior Advisor and Chief Spokesperson to Vice President Kamala Harris, joins MSNBC as an anchor, hosting a new weekend program on the cable channel. The hire marks the first big programming move for new MSNBC President Rashida Jones, who took charge of the channel in February 2021 after its longtime head Phil Griffin departed.

Tammy Haddad, Symone Sanders, former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, and Rachel Greenberg at the 2016 WHC Garden Brunch

Sanders’s new MSNBC program will air on Saturdays and Sundays starting in the spring, although the title, format, and time slot are all to be determined, according to NBC. She will also serve as a fill-in anchor on the network and host a show on “The Choice,” the streaming arm of MSNBC on NBCUniversal’s digital service, Peacock.

The release states that “Sanders will bring her expertise, spirited rhetoric and sharp political insight to MSNBC’s multi-platform channels. Her program will explore issues at the intersection of politics, culture and race and break down how decisions made in Washington impact electorates, industries, and communities across the country. She will also interview law and policy makers, top government officials, scholars, and thought leaders.” 

Highly accomplished, Sanders was one of the highest-ranking Black women in the Biden White House. In her mid-20s, she became national press secretary for Senator Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign, then joined CNN as a quick-witted and creative commentator. When a Republican official told her to “shut up” during a live interview, her viral response later became the title of her memoir, “No, You Shut Up: Speaking Truth to Power and Reclaiming America.”

Sanders joined the Biden campaign in 2019 as a senior adviser, with particular passions for issues of women and Black voters. She strongly advocated for her candidate, so much so that in March 2020 she tackled a protester who rushed the stage during President Biden’s speech on Super Tuesday. In the transition to the White House, she played an integral part of Vice President Kamala Harris’s team. 

In an interview with The New York Times, Sanders expressed her interest in moving beyond politics and transitioning into media. “I’m a young woman, a young Black woman from the Midwest,” said Ms. Sanders, who grew up in Omaha. “Yes, I do politics, but I’m also a consumer of pop culture. I watch the news, I check Twitter, but I’m also into ‘Real Housewives.’ I’m interested in reaching what I call the nonpolitical group chats, the discussions that are penetrating outside of Washington.”

Sanders isn’t the first White House alum to transition into television news. “I’m going to tell the truth, and sometimes the truth is critical,” she told the New York Times of her new role at MSNBC. “This administration has its critics, just like everyone does — I have my critics — and we’re going to have those conversations.”

As a political spokesperson, Sanders understands the full perspective of the intersection between politics and media. “Oftentimes, when it came to the vice president over the last year, people were not reporting on the truth, they were reporting on the gossip.” 

Speaking last month to The Omaha World-Herald about her decision to leave the Biden Administration, Sanders said that she planned “to continue to be a reliable voice for this White House on the outside, regardless of whatever I do next.” Sanders will remain based in Washington, D.C., as she begins her new role, and she plans to marry her fiance, Shawn Townsend, in August 2022.

Filed Under: DC, Washington, Washington Insider, WHCA Tagged With: Garden Brunch, Media, MSNBC, Symone Sanders, White House, White House Correpondents Dinner

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About White House Correspondents Insider

Exploring “behind the scenes” of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

We track the White House Correspondents’ weekend and all the activities around it, from journalists and media companies to the White House and politicos.

Tammy Haddad is Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief of WHC Insider and CEO of Haddad Media.

White House Correspondents Insider is not affiliated with or approved by the White House Correspondents’ Association, which is a registered trademark of the WHCA.

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