Dan Scavino
Daniel Scavino Jr. (born January 15, 1976)[1] is an American political adviser who served in the Trump administration as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications from 2019 to 2021 and Director of Social Media from 2017 to 2021.[2][3] Scavino previously was the general manager of Trump National Golf Club Westchester and the director of social media for the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign.[4]
Dan Scavino | |
---|---|
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications | |
In office April 21, 2020 – January 20, 2021 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Bill Shine (2019) |
White House Director of Social Media | |
In office January 22, 2017 – January 20, 2021 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Rob Flaherty |
Personal details | |
Born | Daniel Scavino Jr. January 15, 1976 New York, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Jennifer Scavino
(m. 2000; div. 2018) |
Children | 2 |
Education | State University of New York, Plattsburgh (BA) |
Early life and education
Scavino was born in New York and is of Italian descent.[5] He was raised in the New York City area.[6][7] In 1992, Scavino was selected as a caddie for Trump's golf party at Briar Hall Country Club (later renamed Trump National Golf Club Westchester). He graduated from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications.
Career
Scavino worked for a few years at Coca-Cola and Galderma before being promoted to general manager of Trump National Golf Club Westchester.[8]
Trump presidential campaign
Scavino was involved with Donald Trump's presidential campaign since it began in June 2015. In February 2016, Trump appointed Scavino as the campaign's director of social media. Over July 4, 2016 weekend, controversy arose when Trump's Twitter account posted an image selected by Scavino of Hillary Clinton with a text in the shape of a Star of David calling her the "Most Corrupt Candidate Ever." The image had originally appeared on an anti-Semitic, white supremacist message board. Trump's team defended its use saying that the star was a "sheriff's badge", before eventually deleting it and posting a new picture with a circle replacing the star.[8]
White House
On December 22, 2016, Scavino was named White House Director of Social Media under President Donald Trump.[9]
In April 2017, ethics attorney Richard Painter accused Scavino of violating the Hatch Act of 1939 (which bars executive branch employees from engaging in electoral activities) after Scavino, from his personal Twitter account had called for defeating Congressman Justin Amash.[10] The United States Office of Special Counsel then informed Scavino that his tweet had indeed violated the Hatch Act and warned future violations "could result in further action."[11] In May 2019, Politico reported that Scavino frequented the r/The_Donald subreddit.[12]
On June 18, 2019, USA Today released an article stating that Scavino writes several of Trump's tweets, most likely those sent between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and those without spelling mistakes.[13]
As of 2018, Scavino was the longest-serving aide in the Trump Administration.[14]
Personal life
Daniel and Jennifer Scavino were married in 2000; they have two children. His wife filed for divorce in January 2018.[15]
References
- @PressSec (January 15, 2019). "Happy Birthday @Scavino45 one of my favorite people at the WH and one of the most talented people I know" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- "Trump names Dan Scavino White House social media director". Retrieved February 22, 2018.
- Haberman, Maggie (April 21, 2020). "Dan Scavino Promoted as Meadows Shuffles White House Communications Team". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
- Restuccia, Rew; Lippman, Daniel; Johnson, Eliana. "'Get Scavino in here': Trump's Twitter guru is the ultimate insider". POLITICO. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- Mendelsohn, Jennifer. "How Would Trump's Immigration Crackdown Have Affected His Own Team?". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
- "Daniel Scavino Jr. turns from caddie into White House social media director". We the Italians. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
- Panetta, Michal Kranz, Pat Ralph, Grace. "Trump's social media director Dan Scavino is the staffer who's been around the longest —and he started as Trump's caddie". Business Insider. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
- Moody, Chris (July 5, 2016). "How a golf caddie became Trump's campaign confidant".
- "Trump picks Sean Spicer as White House press secretary, Jason Miller as communications director". CNN Money. December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
- SAMUELSOHN, Darren (April 1, 2017). "Trump aide accused of Hatch Act violation after urging Amash primary challenge". Politico. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
- Gold, Matea (June 9, 2017). "White House social-media director Dan Scavino violated Hatch Act with tweet targeting GOP congressman". Retrieved February 22, 2018 – via washingtonpost.com.
- Restuccia, Andrew; Lippman, Daniel; Johnson, Eliana (May 16, 2019). "'Get Scavino in here': Trump's Twitter guru is the ultimate insider". POLITICO. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
- "He writes Trump's tweets and has been with Trump's campaign since day one". USA TODAY. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
- Draper, Robert. "The Man Behind the President's Tweets". Retrieved November 10, 2018.
- Ali, Yashar (March 18, 2018). "Wife Of Top Trump Aide Dan Scavino Files For Divorce".
External links
Political offices | ||
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Vacant Title last held by Bill Shine2019 |
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications 2020–2021 |
Vacant |