WASHINGTON _ White House press secretary Sean Spicer has resigned, it was announced Friday.
The decision came after President Donald Trump hired Anthony Scaramucci, a New York financier, as communications director.
In a Twitter statement, Spicer said he would leave the White House in August.
For months, Spicer's daily news briefings were must-see television although he took on a more behind-the-scenes role in recent weeks. Deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was announced as the new press secretary.
Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with his administration's agenda being overshadowed by the FBI's investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election and what he sees as the inability of the White House communications team to counter the steady drip of damaging headlines linking his campaign to the Russian government.
In recent weeks, Spicer has born the brunt of the president's ire. Trump has told close advisers that Spicer had been beaten into submission by the press, according to a person close to Trump, and was no longer able to punch back forcefully enough.
Those concerns came to a head this week, as Spicer continued to be absent from the podium, and Scaramucci's name was floated as someone who could jab and parry more effectively with the media.
Spicer was an ally of White House chief of staff Reince Priebus for whom he worked when Priebus headed the Republican National Committee.
Trump has admired Scaramucci's defense of him on television. But Preibus and White House strategist Steve Bannon were reported to have opposed Scaramucci's appointment.
