The Biden administration’s sharp-elbowed White House press secretary Jen Psaki has emerged as a top candidate for Rachel Maddow’s anchor chair, according to a new report.
Psaki, who has plans to leave the White House this year, is being courted by several news networks, including CNN and MSNBC, according to newsletter Puck.
A source told The Post that UTA super agent and co-president Jay Sures shopped the idea of Psaki as a potential cable news primetime host all over town, drumming up interest, before he signed her.
His timing couldn’t be better as TV networks are looking to shake up their lineups. And perhaps more urgently for CNN and MSNBC, both networks are in need of new blood for their primetime shows.
MSNBC lost its star anchor, Maddow, who has stepped away from her 9 p.m. ET show in order to pursue other projects.
And CNN is on the hunt for somebody to anchor its 9 p.m. show after Chris Cuomo was fired late last year, after sexual misconduct allegations came to light, as well as revelations that he secretly aided the defense of his embattled older brother, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.?
The embattled network is also looking to sign talent for its upcoming streaming service CNN+.
With buzz that Psaki — a rising star in the Biden administration — was on the market, CNN?interim co-president?Amy Entelis?and CNN+ programming head Rebecca Kutler rushed to Washington, DC, for a?“top-secret and mission-critical recruitment assignment,” Puck reported.
Less than one week later, NBC News chairman Cesar Conde and MSNBC president Rashida Jones made a similar voyage to meet Psaki, the site said, noting that Psaki has plans to leave the White House at some point this year and has interest in hosting a TV news program.
Sures and Psaki had talks with ABC News and CBS News, the report said.
Sources told The Post that although Psaki has generated much interest, she is not close to signing with any network yet.