Biden names all-woman communications team

[November 30, 2020]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Joe Biden on Sunday tapped key campaign staff and advisors to lead his all-woman communications team, naming former Obama State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki as his White House press secretary and campaign spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield as communications director.

Senior advisor to the Biden-Harris campaign Symone Sanders will be Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' chief spokeswoman and Biden's former press secretary as vice president, Elizabeth Alexander, will be First Lady to-be Jill Biden's communications director.

"I am proud to announce today the first senior White House communications team comprised entirely of women. These qualified, experienced communicators bring diverse perspectives to their work and a shared commitment to building this country back better," said Biden, who said in a statement it will be the first time in history that the top communications roles will be filled entirely by women.

Senior campaign advisors Karine Jean Pierre and Ashley Etienne, also a former senior advisor to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will serve as deputy White House press secretary and communications director for the vice president, respectively and Pili Tobar, former Hispanic Media Director for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, will serve as deputy communications director.

President-elect Joe Biden delivers a pre-Thanksgiving address at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., November 25, 2020. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Psaki said on Twitter that the communications team is the "most diverse team in history and also 6 Moms of young kids."

Several members of President Donald Trump's communications team are also women including press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah.

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

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