7 high-profile political figures who made a splashy transition to the media industry

Stephanopoulos has become a household name as a result of his nearly 15-year tenure as a co-anchor on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Before Stephanopoulos became one of the biggest names at ABC News, he had a background steeped in Democratic politics, first as an aide to onetime Rep. Edward Feighan of Ohio in the 1980s before working on the unsuccessful 1988 presidential campaign of then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.

Stephanopoulos rose to prominence as a deputy campaign manager for Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign, later serving as White House communications director and a senior advisor in the administration.

At ABC News, Stephanopoulos is not only one of the faces of the weekday morning team but he also serves as the anchor of "This Week," the network's Sunday public affairs program.

In December 2024, ABC News settled a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump against Stephanopoulos and the network after the host during a March interview said Trump had been "found liable for rape" in the case involving the writer E. Jean Carroll. (Trump was found liable for sexually assaulting and defaming Carroll.)

Scarborough was elected to the US House from Florida during the 1994 "Republican Revolution," when his party regained a majority in the lower chamber after 50 years of Democratic control.

While in Congress, Scarborough championed conservative policies on everything from foreign affairs to the federal budget.

He later stepped down from the House in September 2001.

In 2003, Scarborough began hosting the MSNBC program "Scarborough Country." The show ran until 2007.

Since 2007, he has hosted the MSNBC program "Morning Joe."

In March 2024, Both Scarborough and his cohost (and wife) Mika Brzezinski publicly voiced their disagreement over the McDaniel hire and stated that she would not be a guest on their program.

After President-elect Donald Trump's November 2024 victory, Scarborough and Brzezinski were rebuked by many of their viewers after the pair went to Mar-a-Lago after the election in a push to "restart communications" with the incoming president, whom they were very critical of during the campaign.

Scarborough defended the move and waved off the criticism.

"Yesterday I saw for the first time what a massive disconnect there was between social media and the real world because we were flooded with phone calls from people all day, literally around the world, all very positive, very supportive," he said in November.

As White House press secretary from January 2021 until May 2022, Psaki was the public face of President Joe Biden's administration.

Before that, she was a White House deputy press secretary, deputy communications director and communications director under President Barack Obama — as well as a State Department spokesperson in his administration.

In between her stint with the Obama and Biden administrations, she served as a CNN political contributor.

She now hosts the MSNBC program "Inside with Jen Psaki," which premiered in March 2023.

Since 2017, Wallace has been an integral part of the MSNBC lineup as the host of "Deadline: White House."

Wallace previously served as the White House communications director from January 2005 until July 2006 under President George W. Bush and later worked as a senior advisor for John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.

In 2014, Wallace joined ABC's "The View" as a co-host, but exited the program at the end of the season.

Steele, an attorney and former Maryland lieutenant governor, was one of the most prominent Black Republican officeholders during the George W. Bush era.

In 2006, Steele unsuccessfully ran for the US Senate in Maryland, winning the GOP nomination but losing the general election to Democrat Ben Cardin.

He served as chair of the Republican National Committee from 2009 to 2011, leading the party as it picked up 63 seats in the House (and thus retook control) in the 2010 midterm elections.

In May 2011, Steele became a MSNBC political analyst.

He later backed Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Steele now hosts the MSNBC program "The Weekend," alongside commentator Alicia Menendez and former Kamala Harris chief spokesperson Symone Sanders-Townsend.

For years, McCaskill carved out a reputation as a moderate Democrat, serving as a prosecutor and as Missouri's auditor.

Despite the increasingly conservative lean of Missouri, McCaskill was elected to the US Senate in both 2006 and 2012, but she was unseated by Republican Josh Hawley in 2018.

McCaskill has since become a NBC News and MSNBC political analyst, and is a frequent guest on "Morning Joe."

Sanders-Townsend rose to prominence as the national press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign, where she was a highly-visible force in boosting the independent Vermont lawmaker's bid.

Sanders lost the Democratic primary to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that year, but Sanders-Townsend later emerged as an advisor for Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.

After Biden won the presidency, Sanders-Townsend became a senior advisor and the chief spokesperson for Vice President Harris. She would later depart Harris' office and pivot back to a perch in media.

Sanders-Townsend can now be seen on MSNBC's "The Weekend" alongside Steele and Menendez.