Mike Pence's New Press Secretary Is Trump Advisor Stephen Miller's Girlfriend
She shares his hardline anti-immigrant stance.
Getty Stephen Miller, a senior advisor in the Trump White House, has a very strong influence on the president but keeps a lower profile personally. Not much is known about the daily life of the man considered the immigration svengali in the administration. We got a peek into his private world this week when a reporter from the Washington Post noted that Miller is involved with Katie Waldman, who is about to come on board as the press secretary for Vice President Pence. Waldman has a long history in Republican politics herself and has worked on Miller's pet issue: block immigrants at the Southern Border.
Who is Katie Waldman? Read on for everything we know.
1. Student government experience
Waldman's interest in government dates at least back to her college years at the University of Florida, however, her service was not without scandal. Waldman and a fellow member of the school's Unite party were accused of some dirty tricks prior to a student government election. She and fellow party member Jason Tiemeier were spotted throwing away hundreds of copies of the school newspaper during the week of the election. The edition they were trying to hide had a front-page announcement that the school's football coach was endorsing an opposing party. Teimeier later confessed to the incident in an editorial. At the time, however, neither of them faced any disciplinary actions or even got booted from the government. Jezebel reports that a fellow member of the student government was not pleased with having to serve with Waldman. “Sen. Katie Waldman’s appointment to the position of allocations chairwoman is an affront to the students of UF. I do not question her qualifications, passion or work ethic. I question her ethical and moral fiber,” wrote Max Stein, the Assistant Minority Leader of the Students Party, in the school’s newspaper.
2. Homeland Security Spokesperson
Waldman gained national attention as the spokesperson for Secretary Kirstjin Nielsen at Homeland Security. Nielsen, who served in the role for just over a year, was Secretary during the period when a migrant caravan from Central America arrived at the port of entry in San Diego, CA. The administration had already announced their refusal to so much as let the migrants approach the border as part of the ongoing Trump policy to "secure the border." The bulk of the migrants were families traveling in a large group for protection. They were fleeing countries where poverty and drug gang violence were significant threats to their way of life. The administration closed the border checkpoint completely to stop them from coming in.
When prevented from crossing in an orderly manner, members of the caravan began pushing toward the fence and throwing rocks at the border guards, who responded with tear gas. Waldman addressed the incident in a press conference by saying "Once again we have had a violent mob of migrants attempts to enter the United States illegally by attacking our agents with projectiles. The agents involved should be applauded for handling the situation with no reported injuries to the attackers.” The AP reports that she also disparaged the news coverage of the incidents, saying it was blown out of proportion by the "conveniently invited media." She did not say who might have invited the press but the arrival of the caravan and the stand-off that followed had been anticipated for weeks, leading to much national attention. We don't know if she tried to throw away any newspapers with unfavorable coverage of the events or if she left that tactic behind after college.
Waldman is headed to the VP's staff.
3. Senator Martha McSally
Waldman's most recent position was with Senator Martha McSally. McSally, a conservative, lost her Senate election to moderate Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. McSally was later appointed to the Senate by the governor after Senator John McCain passed away, vacating the seat. "Katie has been a great asset to our team and will be missed, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for her to serve our country," McSally said in a statement to AZ.com. "I am sure Katie will thrive in this new position serving Vice President Pence and I wish her all the best."
4. Dating Stephen Miller
A Washington Post reporter noted that Waldman and Miller are an iten when he tweeted about Waldman's new gig working for the Vice President. There aren't a lot of details about the rumored romance but it's not hard to see how they might have come into contact with one another. MIller, a speechwriter and adviser to Trump, who is credited with steering a lot of the White House's hardline policies on immigration, previously worked in Congress, like Waldman. Miller spent time working for right-wing firebrand Michele Bachmann and Arizona Representative John Shaddeg before going to work on immigration issues for Senator Sessions. It was through Sessions, an early Trump supporter, and eventual Cabinet member, that Miller may have gotten involved with the Trump campaign. Miller is thought to be the person behind such Trump policies as the travel ban on many predominantly Muslim countries and he is considered a prime supporter of the child detention policy at the border. The same policies that Waldman would have been defending at DHS. It's not clear how long they have been together but it does seem that they are united by their common disdain for immigrants.
No one knows if Waldman has a position on Miller's hair.
5. Working for the VP
Waldman is now leaving her job with Senator McSally to be the press secretary for the Vice President. "She's got extensive experience, and she'll be a great fit in our office," Pence's chief of staff Marc Short told NBC. "She's shown she has the mettle to handle intense environments." How intense the environment in the VPs office really is remains to be seen. Much like the President's press operation, the VP doesn't hold regular briefings.
6. Ethics issues raised
One thing that Waldman might consider is keeping her professional life and her love life truly separate. Richard Painter, a former chief ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, told Newsweek there are "no ethics rules on dating," but that Waldman should recuse herself from matters involving Miller under the impartiality rule. "When I think about it, I am very worried that she doesn't completely recuse herself from making any comments that have anything to do with Stephen Miller or the policies Stephen Miller is pushing." Painter pointed out that Pence has not always been as gung-ho on blocking immigration as Trump and he worried that Waldman, under the influence of Miller, might try to drive him in that direction.
Waldman starts her new job on October 1.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.