New job for Omaha native Symone Sanders: MSNBC host

Omaha native Symone Sanders, who left her role as senior adviser and spokeswoman for Vice President Kamala Harris at the end of 2021, has been hired by MSNBC to host new programs on its cable TV and streaming platforms.

Rashida Jones, the cable network’s president, announced Sanders’ new job Monday in a press release.

Sanders, 32, will be based out of Washington, D.C. She will host MSNBC on weekends as well as “The Choice from MSNBC” on NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, according to the announcement.

Amid the news breaking, Sanders tweeted: “Well I guess I have some news to share this morning. I am excited to join MSNBC and The Choice! I look forward to working with some of the most talented and amazing people in news. There is a lot to learn, but I’m ready to get to work!”

The New York Times reported that her MSNBC program will air on Saturdays and Sundays starting this spring, but that the format, title and time slot have not been determined.

“Sanders will bring her expertise, spirited rhetoric and sharp political insight to MSNBC’s multi-platform channels,” the MSNBC press release reads. “Her program will explore issues at the intersection of politics, culture and race and break down how decisions made in Washington impact electorates, industries and communities across the country. She will also interview law and policy makers, top government officials, scholars and thought leaders.”

The press release also referenced Sanders’ Omaha roots. In a recent interview with The World-Herald, she called herself a “proud product of North Omaha” and credited the community for shaping her. Sanders grew up there and graduated from Mercy High School and Creighton University.

Sanders worked for Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle early on and with Democrat Chuck Hassebrook’s 2014 gubernatorial campaign in Nebraska. She was Bernie Sanders’ press secretary during his 2016 presidential campaign. She worked as a political commentator for CNN before serving as a senior adviser to President Joe Biden’s successful 2020 campaign. She then took on her most recent role in the White House.

She’s also a former fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics and published a book, “No, You Shut Up: Speaking Truth to Power and Reclaiming America,” in 2020.

“Sanders will bring her unique perspectives, midwestern sensibilities and lived experiences to MSNBC viewers with an insider’s take on Washington and the inner-workings of American politics,” MSNBC said.