Who Is Ari Fleisher, George W Bush's Ex-Senior Advisor? 6 Things To Know About Former White House Press Secretary

Although Ari Fleischer recently said Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump was blatantly ignoring the advice provided by experienced members of the Republican Party, he may be someone the Donald should start listening to.

The former White House press secretary has had quite the successful run in Washington, D.C., and if Trump plans to take the White House, some of the advice from well-respected Republican supporter Fleischer could be helpful.

Fleischer recently admitted that “Trump has moved in exactly the opposite direction from” the party’s recommendations, according to U.S. News and World Report.

His statement came moments after renowned Republican Party strategist Sally Bradshaw, who was a longtime aid to Florida Governor Jeb Bush, announced her decision to leave the GOP.

Bradshaw has been one of five top strategist working tirelessly with the Republican Party enlisted to target the party's shortcomings and implement better tactics to win the White House in 2016. Her decision to leave the GOP and vote for the Democratic nominee has been a huge blow to the Republican Party, which Fleischer says is because of Trump's negligence to listen to advisors.

"Sally is representative of an important segment of our party, and that is college-educated women, where Donald Trump is losing by disastrous margins," Fleisher, who was working with Bradshaw on the special project, said.

But that hasn’t necessarily caused President George W. Bush’s former senior advisor to put Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on his ballot.

With the presidential election just three months away, the apparent Republican Party divide is only intensifying as more and more GOP notables – New York Rep. Richard Hanna, 2012 party nominee Mitt Romney and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to name a few – have declared they would not support the Republican nominee.

Find out more about Fleischer and his accomplishments six notable facts about him below:

1. He Served as Bush’s Press Secretary from 2001 – 2003: He became the White House Press Secretary for President George W. Bush’s administration in 2000, handling media relations and speaking regularly with the press regarding the administration’s day-to-day functions and goals. During his tenure, he had the difficult task of answering all the media’s inquiries regarding President Bush’s plans following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

2. He Was Raised Under Democrat Influence: Although he became press secretary for a Republican administration, Fleischer started out as a Democrat. Both of Fleischer’s parents, Alan and Martha Fleischer, were committed Democrats. However, Fleischer began aligning himself with the Republican Party while studying for a political science degree at Middlebury College in Vermont.

After graduating in 1982, he landed his first press secretary position for Republican John Fossel, who was running for a congressional seat. Fossel didn’t make the cut, but that didn’t stop Fleischer from his political prowess. He later moved to Washington, D.C., with his older brother, Michael Fleischer, and got a job working the phone banks for the Republican National Committee before eventually being hired as press secretary for New York congressman Norman Lent.

3. He Almost Turned Down President Bush: Initially, Fleischer was working with Elizabeth Dole during her campaign to be the Republican Party nominee in the 2000 election. He quit the Dole team in September 1999, and shortly afterward Dole dropped out of the race when Bush, a Republican Texas governor at the time, started to pick up steam within the party.

Karen Hughes, who was the communications director for the Bush campaign, offered Fleischer a job after discovering he had quit his position as Dole’s communications director. Surprisingly he declined, but after speaking at length with his former boss, Republican Bill Archer, Fleischer finally agreed to interview and was named the next White House Press Secretary when Bush took office.

4. His Nickname is Ari Bob: During his time serving in the Bush administration, Fleischer earned an interesting nickname from Bush himself. The former president called his staff member Ari Bob because, according to Bush, “In Texas, you have two first names, and as far as I’m concerned he’s a Texan.”

5. He’s an Avid Yankees Fan: Hailing from Pound Ridge, New York, Fleischer is relentless in his passion for the New York Yankees baseball team. In fact, he was often the person Bush would call on for a game of catch. Fleischer even flaunts his Yankees support on his Twitter bio and will often rant about the game and the team during baseball season.

6. He Has His Own Communications Company: Since departing from the White House in 2003, Fleischer went on to start up his own communications company, Fleischer Communications, which helps corporations and sports organizations with their media management. He’s worked with several companies and sports leagues including the NBA, MLB and NFL.