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Helen Aguirre Ferré

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Helen Aguirre Ferré
Executive Director of the Republican Party of Florida
In office
July 2020 – March 8 2024
Preceded byGeorge Riley
Succeeded byGeorge Riley
Communications Director to the Governor of Florida
In office
January 2019 – July 2020
GovernorRon DeSantis
Succeeded byFred Piccolo
NEA Director for Strategic Communications and Public Affairs
In office
August 2018 – December 2018
PresidentDonald Trump
White House Director of Media Affairs
In office
January 23, 2017 – August 2018
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byPosition established
Personal details
Born1957 (age 66–67)
Miami, Florida
Political partyRepublican
Alma materBarry University (BA)
University of Miami (MA)

Helen Aguirre Ferré (born 1957) is a Nicaraguan American journalist and the former executive director for the Republican Party of Florida. She previously served as Communications Director for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Aguirre Ferré was the Director for Strategic Communications and Public Affairs at the National Endowment for the Arts from August to December 2018 and the White House's Director of Media Affairs from January 2017 to August 2018. Prior to that, she hosted the public affairs program Issues on WPBT 2.

Career

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Aguirre Ferré was an op-ed columnist for the Miami Herald. She hosted a Spanish-language talk radio show on Univision America until 2015.[1]

Aguirre Ferré is a former Opinion Page Editor of Diario Las Americas.

Aguirre Ferré was the first female President of the District Board of Trustees of Miami Dade College. She declined to run for re-election as chair of MDC's board of trustees amid pressure from immigration activists. Ferré's decision came after local and national immigrant advocacy groups launched online petitions calling on her to step down from her chairmanship or resign from the board altogether, citing Donald Trump's "anti-Hispanic hate" and "anti-immigrant agenda." The college has a large immigrant student population. She remains on the board.

Aguirre Ferré was senior adviser to Jeb Bush's presidential campaign in 2016.[1] In June 2016, Aguirre Ferré was named Hispanic communications director for the Republican Party.[1]

Aguirre Ferré was named to the Florida Women's Hall of Fame in 2016.[2][3]

Aguirre Ferré was the executive director for the Republican Party of Florida from 2020 to 2024.[4]

Early criticism of candidate Donald Trump

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Aguirre Ferré had initially been a harsh critic of candidate Donald Trump. "There's a side of Donald Trump that is anti-feminine. I'm not going to tell you he's a misogynist … but I do think there's something that bothers him about strong and independent women," she said in April 2016.[5] "In the case of abortion, Donald Trump held every viewpoint possible … including supporting partial-birth abortion, something even many who are pro-choice oppose," she said of Trump the same month.[5]

Trump "babbling more than usual," Aguirre Ferré tweeted during a Republican presidential debate on February 13, 2016.[6] She criticized New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's and U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions' decision to endorse Trump, tweeting on February 29, 2016, "Wonder if Chris Christie and Senator Sessions now regret supporting Trump or do means justify the end? Telling either way."[6] Following a violent protest at a Trump rally in Chicago, she blamed Trump for the violence, tweeting "Thank you! Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio agree that Trump bears responsibility for violence in Chicago today."[6] On September 10, 2015, she tweeted that "women and country deserve better" than Trump.[6]

Trump administration

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On January 19, 2017, it was announced that she would be special assistant to President Trump and director of media affairs for the Trump administration.[7] It was announced on August 9, 2018 that Aguirre Ferré "was taking up a new position as director for strategic communications and public affairs at the National Endowment for the Arts... in the next two weeks."[8] In December 2019, Florida Governor-elect Ron DeSantis announced Ferré's appointment as director of communications.[9]

Personal

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Aguirre Ferré was born in Miami, to Nicaraguan parents. She is the daughter-in-law of former Miami mayor Maurice Ferré.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Mazzei, Patricia (June 1, 2016). "GOP taps Miami's Helen Aguirre Ferré as Hispanic communications director". Miami Herald.
  2. ^ Hines, Bea L. (January 21, 2016). "Friends and Neighbors: Helen Aguirre Ferre named to Florida Women's Hall of Fame". Miami Herald. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  3. ^ "Helen Aguirre Ferré". FCSW. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  4. ^ Ogles, Jacob (March 8, 2024). "George Riley to return as Florida GOP Executive Director". Florida Politics. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Hispanic former Trump critic signs on to his administration, Politico, January 19, 2017, retrieved January 28, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d "RNC's newest Hispanic outreach director scrubs tweets warning about dangers of Trump," Media Matters for America, June 2, 2016, retrieved January 28, 2017.
  7. ^ "Miami's Helen Aguirre Ferré gets Trump White House job". Tampa Bay Times. January 19, 2017. Archived from the original on January 31, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  8. ^ "Helen Aguirre Ferré, one of top Latinas in White House, leaves post". NBC News. Associated Press. August 9, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  9. ^ "Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis names more key advisers". Tampa Bay Times. News Service of Florida. December 15, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
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