Symone Sanders-Townsend

Symone D. Sanders-Townsend (born December 10, 1989) is an American political strategist and political commentator currently hosting MSNBC's The Weekend. She served as national press secretary for Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign. She left the campaign abruptly in late June 2016, saying "she was not let go and that leaving the campaign was her decision." In October 2016, she was hired as a Democratic strategist and political commentator by CNN.

In April 2019, Sanders joined the 2020 presidential campaign of former vice president Joe Biden as a senior advisor, and after Biden won election, was named chief spokesperson and a senior advisor for Vice President Kamala Harris. On December 2, 2021, Sanders announced her resignation from the White House to return to broadcasting.

Early life and education
Sanders was raised in North Omaha, Nebraska. Her father, Daniel Sanders, is retired from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Her mother, Terri Sanders, is the former publisher of the Omaha Star and former executive director for the Great Plains Black History Museum.

She attended Sacred Heart Catholic School. As a child, Sanders wanted to grow up to host her own television show. She used to walk around the house acting as Donna Burns, an imaginary television host.

Her first job was working at Time Out Foods in Omaha, a Black-owned restaurant. She graduated from High School in 2007.

Sanders attended Creighton University, and earned a bachelor's degree in business administration. While in college, she interned at a law firm, where she realized she didn't want to work in law.

Career
Sanders worked in the communications office of former Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle, and she was deputy communications director for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chuck Hassebrook in 2014.

In August 2015, Sanders joined the Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign as the national press secretary. In December, Fusion listed Sanders as one of 30 women under 30 who would shape the 2016 election.

In June 2016, she quit the Sanders campaign. Later that year, she joined CNN as an analyst and commentator, and was recognized by Rolling Stone magazine as one of 16 Young Americans Shaping the 2016 Election.

She subsequently joined the presidential campaign of former vice president Joe Biden. In 2020, she published a memoir, No, You Shut Up, relating her personal experiences of speaking up to effectively fight ideological battles.

On November 29, 2020, Sanders was named chief spokesperson and a senior advisor for Vice President Kamala Harris. On December 1, 2021, Symone Sanders announced her departure from that role.

Shortly thereafter, MSNBC announced she would host a weekend program for the network, as well as a program on Peacock's The Choice. The new MSNBC program, Symone, premiered on May 7, 2022.

As of November 19, 2023 the show was the 24th most popular show on MSNBC and 292nd overall on TV, watched by a total number of 438,000 people.

On November 30, 2023, MSNBC announced that Sanders would move to weekend mornings to anchor a new program, The Weekend, along with Alicia Menendez and Michael Steele. Her weekend show on MSNBC and on Peacock, Symone, ended on January 7, 2024, with The Weekend premiering on the same day.

Personal life
Sanders-Townsend's husband is Shawn Townsend, Washington D.C.'s former "Night Mayor". The couple wed on Friday, July 15, 2022. They live in Washington, D.C.

Works

 * No, You Shut Up: Speaking Truth to Power and Reclaiming America. New York: Harper (2020). ISBN 0062942689