By Nile Gardiner World Last updated: January 5th, 2011

Fox News and the BBC are reporting that Robert Gibbs is about to step down as White House Press Secretary, and become “an outside presidential adviser”. His departure comes just two months after the Obama presidency’s “shellacking” in the midterm elections, when the Democrats suffered an historic defeat at the hands of US voters. He follows in the footsteps of former White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel and former National Security Adviser Jim Jones who left in October, and will join senior Obama adviser David Axelrod and Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina, who depart later this month.

It is not hard to see why Gibbs is leaving now, just as the White House faces what will be a powerful barrage from the new Republican-dominated House of Representatives, whose leadership has pledged to undo most of the Obama agenda, including the hugely controversial health care reforms. His successor will face a monumentally unenviable task – trying to sell the deeply unpopular policies of a declining presidency to an overwhelmingly sceptical US public. In fact, whoever takes his place will have one of the most difficult jobs in the world.

I very much doubt that Gibbs will be missed across the Atlantic, and his comments at times reflected a broader anti-British feel to the Obama administration. He will be primarily remembered in Britain as the man responsible for placing the White House stamp of approval on the infamous “boot on the throat” (or “boot on the neck”) threat against the UK’s largest company, BP, originally made by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, as part of the administration’s campaign to demonise it in the wake of the Gulf oil spill.

Gibbs also sparred a good deal with the British press, most notably when he launched a sneering rant against the UK media, including The Daily Telegraph, back in May 2009, when Politico reported his comments at a briefing for reporters:

“I want to speak generally about some reports I’ve witnessed over the past few years in the British media,” Gibbs said. “In some ways, I’m surprised it filtered down.”

“Let’s just say if I wanted to look up, if I wanted to read a write-up of how Manchester United fared last night in the Champions League Cup, I’d might open up a British newspaper,” he continued. “If I was looking for something that bordered on truthful news, I’m not entirely sure it’d be the first pack of clips I’d pick up.”

Gibbs’ exit from the White House is part of a broader exodus that began three months ago, and will no doubt continue in the coming weeks as the political landscape grows increasingly tough for the Obama presidency. While the departures of key staff are being sold as a strategic reorganisation in advance of the 2012 elections, it is hard to escape from the Titanic-like feel at the White House at this time, just weeks after it was humbled by the American people.