President Donald Trump’s senior political advisor James Blair praised departing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt for her time in the West Wing while warning on Saturday that her successor will face scrutiny for filling such a critical messaging role as the midterm elections approach.
Blair said the next press secretary would be under a “microscope” given that Leavitt’s time in office “cemented her as maybe the best press secretary we’ve ever had.”
“She was just really tremendous. And she had a connection with the president that is hard to develop,” he said during “My View.” “She understood him and understood the way he wanted to tell the American people his message, and she did it with honor and loyalty.”
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“I think she’s a really hard act to follow. I don’t envy the next person, but it is a critical job.”
Whoever takes the podium next will need to work hard to disseminate President Trump’s message “in the face of a very hostile press that doesn’t want to tell the story about the great work Republicans have done for the last two years,” he continued.
Blair’s assessment comes as messaging surrounding midterms ramps up across the country.
Republicans currently hold narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress, controlling the House with a razor-thin 218-212 edge, with one independent and four vacancies, and the Senate with a 53-47 advantage, including two independents who caucus with Democrats.
With every House seat and 35 Senate seats on the ballot, Democrats need a net gain of just six House seats to reclaim the speaker’s gavel and four Senate seats to win back the upper chamber, making even a handful of competitive races capable of reshaping the balance of power in Washington.
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Still, Blair expressed optimism that the GOP would retain its congressional majorities, saying the election comes down to “mainstream Republicans versus extreme liberal Democrats.”
Democrats want to raise taxes, abolish police and prisons and grant amnesty to every illegal immigrant in America, he said, including the violent criminals.
Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.