Biography:Dan Scavino

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Short description: American political adviser
Dan Scavino
Dan Scavino by Gage Skidmore.jpg
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications
In office
April 21, 2020 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byBill Shine (2019)
White House Director of Social Media
In office
January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byRob Flaherty (Director of Digital Strategy)
Personal details
Born
Daniel Scavino Jr.

(1976-01-14) January 14, 1976 (age 48)
New York, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Jennifer Scavino
(m. 2000; div. 2018)
Children2
EducationState University of New York, Plattsburgh (BA)

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]

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.[citation needed]

Career

Scavino worked for a few years at Coca-Cola and Galderma before becoming 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

Donald Trump, Scavino (second from left), Ivanka Trump, and World Economic Forum Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab meet in Davos, Switzerland in 2020

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]

Scavino was the longest-serving aide in the Trump Administration. He remained as Director of Social Media until the end of Trump's term as president.[14]

On September 24, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6 2021 United States Capitol attack subpoenaed Scavino for records and testimony relating to the incident.[15] Scavino has been evading investigators.[16][17][18]

Personal life

Daniel and Jennifer Scavino were married in 2000; they have two children. His wife filed for divorce in January 2018.[19]

References

  1. @PressSec (January 15, 2019). "Happy Birthday @Scavino45 one of my favorite people at the WH and one of the most talented people I know.". https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1085032821046038528. 
  2. Schutzman, Nina (2016-12-22). "Trump names Dan Scavino White House social media director". https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/12/22/trump-scavino-white-house-social-media-director/95759880/. 
  3. Haberman, Maggie (April 21, 2020). "Dan Scavino Promoted as Meadows Shuffles White House Communications Team". The Washington Post. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/us/politics/dan-scavino-promotion.html. 
  4. Restuccia, Rew; Lippman, Daniel; Johnson, Eliana. "'Get Scavino in here': Trump's Twitter guru is the ultimate insider" (in en). https://politi.co/2JJC2aE. 
  5. Mendelsohn, Jennifer (January 18, 2018). "How Would Trump's Immigration Crackdown Have Affected His Own Team?". http://politi.co/2BbZk1f. 
  6. "Daniel Scavino Jr. turns from caddie into White House social media director". http://wetheitalians.com/single_post/daniel-scavino-jr-turns-caddie-white-house-social-media-director. 
  7. Panetta, Grace; Ralph, Pat; Kranz, Michal (May 20, 2019). "Trump's social media director Dan Scavino is the staffer who's been around the longest —and he started as Trump's caddie". https://www.businessinsider.com/dan-scavino-bio-trump-golf-caddie-turned-social-media-director-2018-4. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 Moody, Chris (July 5, 2016). "How a golf caddie became Trump's campaign confidant". http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/29/politics/donald-trump-tweets-daniel-scavino/. 
  9. Byers, Dylan (December 22, 2016). "Trump picks Sean Spicer as White House press secretary, Jason Miller as communications director". CNN Money. https://money.cnn.com/2016/12/22/media/sean-spicer-jason-miller-white-house-press-secretary-donald-trump/index.html?adkey=bn. 
  10. Samuelsohn, Darren (April 1, 2017). "Trump aide accused of Hatch Act violation after urging Amash primary challenge". Politico. http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/dan-scavino-justin-amash-liability-trump-freedom-caucus-236780. 
  11. Gold, Matea (June 9, 2017). "White House social-media director Dan Scavino violated Hatch Act with tweet targeting GOP congressman". https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/06/09/white-house-social-media-director-dan-scavino-violated-hatch-act-with-tweet-targeting-gop-congressman/. 
  12. Restuccia, Andrew; Lippman, Daniel; Johnson, Eliana (May 16, 2019). "'Get Scavino in here': Trump's Twitter guru is the ultimate insider" (in en). POLITICO. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/16/trump-scavino-1327921. 
  13. Chute, Nate (2019-06-18). "He writes Trump's tweets and has been with Trump's campaign since day one" (in en). https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/06/18/donald-trump-twitter-president-white-house-dan-scavino-golf-course-covfefe/1495205001/. 
  14. Draper, Robert (2018-04-16). "The Man Behind the President's Tweets" (in en). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/magazine/dan-scavino-the-secretary-of-offense.html. 
  15. Jalonick, Mary Clare; Tucker, Eric (2021-09-24). "House Jan. 6 panel subpoenas Trump advisers, associates" (in en). https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-capitol-siege-subpoenas-mark-meadows-bennie-thompson-41b9b7a09f4530b7a182549e556a9ad9. 
  16. Al-Arshani, Sarah (October 6, 2021). "A former Trump aide was subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the January 6 riot more than a week ago. Investigators still haven't found him". https://www.businessinsider.com/former-trump-aide-evading-subpoena-from-january-6-committee-2021-10?r=US&IR=T. 
  17. Garcia, Catherine (October 6, 2021). "Report: House Jan. 6 select committee can't track down former Trump aide to serve subpoena". https://theweek.com/politics/1005704/report-house-jan-6-select-committee-cant-track-down-former-trump-aide-to-serve. 
  18. Lowell, Hugo (October 6, 2021). "Top Trump aides set to defy subpoenas in Capitol attack investigation". https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/06/trump-aides-capitol-attack-house-select-committee. 
  19. Ali, Yashar (March 18, 2018). "Wife Of Top Trump Aide Dan Scavino Files For Divorce". https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-aide-dan-scavino-divorce_us_5aaef507e4b0c33361b1bdcb/. 

External links

Political offices
Vacant
Title last held by
Bill Shine
2019
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications
2020–2021
Vacant