Another former White House communications staffer is joining the TV news contributor ranks.
CNN announced Thursday morning that it has signed Jamal Simmons to an on-air political contributor role. Simmons was most recently the deputy assistant to President Biden and communications director to Vice President Harris. This move several weeks after CNN signed President Biden’s former communications director Kate Bedingfield to a similar role at the network.
Simmons is no stranger to national news. Prior to serving in the Biden-Harris White House, he was a political contributor for CBS News and NPR. Prior to CBS, he hosted digital interviews for Hill TV with political leaders and celebrities. During the 2008 presidential primaries Simmons was a prominent Obama campaign surrogate and senior advisor to the Democratic National Committee. Before that, he was a press secretary for two presidential primary campaigns, communications director for a U.S. Senate race and managed the national state media operation for Gore/Lieberman 2000. He also served as a Gore spokesman in West Palm Beach during the Florida recount.
Simmons got his start on Bill Clinton’s 1992 traveling campaign staff and set up events around the world for the Clinton White House.
He will be based in New York.