Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Trump Aides Think They Know Why Trump Is Announcing His SCOTUS Pick at 9PM and They're Pissed

Trump Aides Think They Know Why Trump Is Announcing His SCOTUS Pick at 9PM and They're Pissed
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 01: U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a meeting with leaders of the steel industry at the White House March 1, 2018 in Washington, DC. Trump announced planned tariffs on imported steel and aluminum during the meeting, with details to be released at a later date. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Aides to President Donald Trump are reportedly peeved with the president's decision to announce his Supreme Court nominee at 9 pm Monday over concerns the new White House communications director chose the slot to boost Sean Hannity's ratings.

Vanity Fair's Gabriel Sherman tweeted Monday afternoon that White House staffers "are annoyed" that Bill Shine, who joined the administration last week, "chose 9 pm hour to help Sean Hannity’s ratings."


Shine, a former co-president of Fox News who was forced to resign last year over his mishandling of sexual harassment allegations involving Roger Ailes and Bill O'Reilly, “will serve as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications."

"He brings over two decades of television programming, communications, and management experience to the role,” the White House said in a statement on Thursday.

Trump and Hannity have an intimate relationship. In May, it was reported the two men speak every night, with Hannity serving as a sort of therapist and informal adviser to the president.

Shine will be the fifth communications director, filling the position which has been left vacant since Hope Hicks resigned in February.

Hannity joined the president at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf resort over the weekend and urged Trump to nominate Chicago Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett as Justice Anthony Kennedy's replacement.

Barrett was also a law professor at the University of Notre Dame and served as a clerk to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016 and whom Trump replaced with Neil Gorsuch.

Sherman also reminded followers of Trump's nomination of Gorsuch, which took place at 8 pm in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday, January 31, 2017.

Hannity's 9 pm slot is currently the most-watched talk show in the country, with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow coming in a close second.

Trump is renowned for his obsession with television ratings and media exposure and reportedly intended to build suspense over his SCOTUS pick. Trump has tweeted about ratings 343 times since 2010.

On his radio show Monday afternoon, Hannity shared his excitement over Trump's 9 pm announcement, saying he "kind of likes that it's right at the start of Hannity and we get to talk about it first."

There are two other frontrunners for Kennedy's seat: D.C. Circuit Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the United States Court of Appeals, and Raymond Kethledge, a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

The Twitterverse was, not shockingly, unsurprised at the showmanship surrounding Trump's SCOTUS nomination, noting that his presidency has resembled a reality show since he took office last year.

More from News

Steve-O
Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

'Jackass' Star Steve-O Reveals How Trans Cashier Convinced Him Not To Get 'Boob Job' For Prank

Jackass star Steve-O decided against getting breast augmentation surgery at the last minute as part of a joke after having an enlightening discussion with a trans person.

He spoke to New York-based news website Consequence and recalled an interaction he had with a supermarket cashier who was trans that changed his mind about the surgery.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kerstin Emhoff; Screenshot of Sarah Huckabee Sanders
@keprettybird/X; RSBN

Kerstin Emhoff Claps Back After Sarah Sanders Rips Harris For Not Having Biological Kids

Kerstin Emhoff, the ex-wife of Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and mother of their two children, criticized Arkansas Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders after Sanders claimed Vice President Kamala Harris is not "humble" because she doesn't have kids of her own.

Sanders—who served as former President Donald Trump's White House Press Secretary—introduced Trump at his Flint, Michigan, town hall yesterday and mocked Harris for not having biological children.

Keep ReadingShow less
Claudia Conway; Laura Loomer
@claudiamconway/Instagram; Jacob M. Langston for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Claudia Conway Just Shut Far-Right Trump Crony 'Loony' Laura Loomer All The Way Down

Claudia Conway—the daughter of Trump administration presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway and attorney George Conway—took far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer to task for trying to distract from former President Donald Trump's abysmal debate performance against Vice President Kamala Harris last week.

Loomer, who has recently denied rumors of a romantic affair with Trump after being photographed by his side at numerous events including last week's presidential debate and two 9/11 memorials despite her prior claims that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were an "inside job," was swiftly called out by Conway, who suggested she's attracting attention to take eyes off Trump.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jane's Addiction
Jeff Hahne/Getty Images

Jane's Addiction Cancels Rest Of Tour After Singer Punched Guitarist: 'Our Hearts Are Broken'

Alternative rock band Jane's Addiction officially canceled the rest of their reunion tour following lead singer Perry Farrell's physical assault on guitarist Dave Navarro during a concert stop in Boston.

The original members of the Los Angeles-based rockers, who gained commercial success during the early 1990s, reunited to embark on a tour comprising the first string of successive live performances in 14 years.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Kamala Harris
Mario Tama/Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Trump Slammed After Claiming That Harris Is 'Killing Black And Hispanic Heritage' In Bonkers Post

Former President Donald Trump was called out after claiming that Vice President Kamala Harris is somehow "KILLING BLACK AND HISPANIC HERITAGE" by allowing "illegal migrants" into the country to take their jobs.

Trump's remarks—absurd considering his "zero tolerance family separation policy" tore migrant families, the majority of them Hispanic, apart—come as he and Harris continue to court Hispanic voters, a key voting bloc that has leaned more conservative in recent years. They also repeat his prior remarks that immigrants are taking "Black jobs," a line that has been widely denounced as racist.

Keep ReadingShow less