Former Disney Star Joins White House Press Staff As Trump Continues To Shake Things Up
White House is not done with the hiring and firing yet. Around the same time that United States President Donald Trump announced the dismissal of David Shulkin as Veterans Affairs secretary on Twitter, the White House announced the hiring of a former Disney Channel star as the newest member of its press team, CNN reported.
Caroline Sunshine, 22, will join the White House as a press assistant after serving as an intern.
“Caroline Sunshine was a White House intern,” White House spokesperson Lindsay Walters said as she explained how the actress got the job.
She said Sunshine was also an intern for three different offices including the Office of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the College Republican National Committee, and the California Republican Party.
Prior to her internships, Sunshine was an active member of the Model United Nations team at Claremont McKenna College, where she graduated. The singer/actress was also involved with the American Enterprise Institute. Sunshine apparently applied for internship through the White House website.
Sunshine is the latest member of the White House staff with experience in cable television. Trump, himself a TV star with The Apprentice prior to becoming the president, also hired CNBC host Larry Kudlow to replace Gary Cohn as director of the National Economic Council. The president also named Fox News analyst John Bolton as the new national security adviser replacing H.R. McMaster, a move that has been largely criticized and described by former President Jimmy Carter as one of Trump’s “biggest mistakes,” according to CNN.
Ex-Disney Channel star Caroline Sunshine joins Trump's White House press team https://t.co/5MY4QUThYj
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 29, 2018
Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former participant on The Apprentice, was also part of the White House staff as director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison before she resigned last December, BBC reported.
Sunshine was in the Disney Channel show Shake It Up with main stars Zendaya and Bella Thorne. She had a recurring and later main role as Tinka Hessenheffer, twin brother of Kenton Duty’s Gunther. Sunshine, who got her start in theater, also appeared in a few films such as Marmaduke and The Outfield.
Shake It Up lasted from 2010 to 2013. After the Disney show ended, Sunshine gradually shifted careers as she interned at the White House, though her most recent acting gig was for the 2017 TV movie Mommy I Didn’t Do It.
As for the other stars of the Disney show, they also moved on to bigger roles related to Hollywood. Zendaya recently starred in The Greatest Showman opposite Hugh Jackman, and in Spider-Man: Homecoming with Tom Holland. Thorne, who came out as bisexual, has become the most controversial of the Shake It Up cast. The former child star now sports an edgier and racier look while also being the subject of rumors linking her to Scott Disick, former husband of Kourtney Kardashian. Last year, Thorne was also criticized for a racist comment, Insider reported.
Even while focused on her acting and singing careers, Sunshine exhibited a desire to help others. In 2011, she advocated for better lives for homeless dogs and puppies as a spokesperson for the Puppy Love, a fragrance brand which donates part of its sales to animal shelters.
Sunshine is also active in a number of other charitable causes that benefit soldiers, the homeless, cancer patients, underprivileged women, and victims of domestic abuse.
