Conservative commentator Ben Ferguson has emerged as a leading candidate for White House press secretary. [Getty Images]
Conservative commentator Ben Ferguson has emerged as a leading candidate for White House press secretary. [Getty Images]

With the White House press secretary post vacant for nearly a month, conservative commentator Ben Ferguson has emerged as the leading candidate for the role, according to new reports.

Fox News reported Tuesday (local time), citing a source close to Donald Trump, that "a lot of people have mentioned his name to President Trump," with many backing Ferguson for the position.

The source told Fox News that "Trump's instinct is to go with a male" and that "a lot of people have said it's a good idea."

A separate official said the White House has recently been weighing the idea of appointing a male press secretary, with Ferguson seen as the frontrunner — a proposal driven by a desire for change after the role had long been held by women.

The seven most recent White House press secretaries, spanning Donald Trump's first term, Joe Biden's presidency and Trump's second term, have all been women. The streak began after Sean Spicer stepped down in June 2017 during Trump's first term and was succeeded by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, now governor of Arkansas.

Against that backdrop, voices inside the White House have called for appointing a man to the post. Ferguson began hosting radio programs at age 20, becoming both the youngest host of a radio talk show in the United States and the youngest host of a nationally syndicated program. He continues to host "The Ben Ferguson Show," which is distributed across the country, and contributes political commentary to CNN as a conservative analyst.

The push for Ferguson centers on his combative style and firm conservative convictions. A source said Ferguson is "one of the loudest voices supporting President Trump in the 21st century," adding that while "many supporters don't have the courage to fight fake news, Ben consistently walks into the lion's den and confronts media bias head-on."

Trump has acknowledged that the Iran war and hardline immigration policy contributed to Republican losses in the midterm elections, yet he has continued to surround himself with hardliners. He tapped Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller — the architect of his immigration agenda — as chief of staff, and said he would not dismiss US Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who led the Iran war effort. Analysts say this sets the stage for intensifying clashes between the Democratic Party, which now controls Congress, and a Trump administration still committed to its "Make America Great Again" agenda in the second half of his term.

Senior White House officials believe that if Trump continues on a confrontational path rather than seeking compromise in the latter half of his term, he will need someone with proven loyalty and backbone to push back against media criticism head-on.

Trump has not yet made up his mind, according to sources. Other names in contention include Scott Jennings, a conservative CNN commentator who served in the George W. Bush administration; White House communications director Steven Cheung; Ari Fleischer, who served as White House press secretary during Bush's first term; and Matthew Boyle, Washington bureau chief of the hard-right outlet Breitbart.

The vacancy dates to the departure of Karoline Leavitt, who served as press secretary from the start of Trump's second term. Katie Zacharia was named her replacement on Oct. 9, but was dismissed just three days into the job amid controversy over false credentials and questions about her qualifications. Trump left the post empty in the weeks that followed, and on Sunday posted on social media that he intended to appoint his supporter Dana White, the UFC president, as the new press secretary. After the announcement drew widespread ridicule, Trump said it had been "a joke" — though the following day, Monday, he brought White to the White House briefing room and had him serve as a one-day press secretary.


kate01@heraldcorp.com