Meet Kayleigh McEnany, The Boss Lady Trump Defender and Next White House Press Secretary

Meet Kayleigh McEnany, The Boss Lady Trump Defender and Next White House Press Secretary

Kayleigh McEnany, a spokesperson for President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election campaign, is replacing Stephanie Grisham because the White House press secretary, The ny Times reported on Tuesday.

McEnany, 31, is an outspoken, combative defender of the president who gained recognition during the 2016 election for frequently appearing as a Trump surrogate on cable news networks.

She'll be Trump's fourth press secretary in under four years, succeeding Stephanie Grisham, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Sean Spicer during a communications office that has experienced near-constant turnover.

McEnany drew early attention as a right-wing speaker at CNN, where she got into quite a couple of heated exchanges with other personalities like ny Times columnist Charles Blow and CNN host Van Jones. She's since hosted Trump TV, served because the Republican National Committee's spokeswoman, and been a spokeswoman for Trump's 2020 reelection campaign.

Kayleigh McEnany

Most recently, she made waves by falsely claiming on February 25 that "we won't see diseases just like the coronavirus come here" due to Trump's leadership. This was each day after US federal health officials announced it wasn't a matter of if, but when and the way severe the coronavirus outbreak would be within the US.

Here's what we all know about McEnany:

McEnany was born in 1988 and grew up in Florida, where she attended the Academy of the Holy Names, a personal Catholic school for women .

She received a Bachelor's of Science in international politics from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service , and also spent a year studying at Oxford University within the UK.

She interned for variety of high-ranking politicians, including former President George W. Bush. McEnany volunteered for the Bush reelection campaign as a highschool sophomore in 2004.

She went on to intern in Bush's White House communications office, and once escorted quarterback Eli Manning to the Oval Office .

After graduating from Georgetown in 2010, McEnany worked as a producer on former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee's television program .

She worked her high the network ladder, appearing more frequently as a conservative pundit on more popular shows over the years. the primary appearance she posted on her Facebook page was on Fox News in 2011.

McEnany announced her support for then-Republican presidential candidate Trump in February 2016. Trump clinched the party's nomination which will , when his last opponent, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, dropped out of the Republican primary.

Kayleigh McEnany: The Boss Lady

McEnany also visited school of law after finishing her undergraduate work. She began at the University of Miami School of Law and eventually transferred to Harvard school of law , graduating with a J.D. in May 2016.

In July 2016, McEnany got engaged to St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Sean Gilmartin.

During the campaign, McEnany frequently appeared as a Trump surrogate, most prominently on CNN, where she was a paid commentator who promoted Trump's platform and debated with left-leaning and anti-Trump commentators.

Throughout her tenure at CNN, McEnany became known for her contentious spats with multiple personalities and guests. In February, she had a heated exchange with ny Times columnist Charles Blow on "CNN Tonight with Don Lemon."

"Don't do this ," Blow said when McEnany briefly touched his arm while claiming liberals and Trump critics had "sinister" motivations behind their objections to Trump. "Don't touch me and say that's your 'sinister motivations'," he said, as she ignored his frustration.

In March 2017, she apologized on the air after falsely claiming that journalist Daniel Pearl, who was murdered by jihadists in 2002, died while former President Barack Obama was in office. McEnany said she had meant to ask James Foley, who was slain by ISIS in 2014, not Pearl.

McEnany frequently sparred with CNN host Van Jones — particularly after the November election — with Jones often accusing McEnany of twisting his words and misrepresenting his statements.

McEnany has continued advocating for Trump's agenda since he took office, but on August 5, she suddenly left her job at CNN.

On Transfiguration , she appeared during a pro-Trump video during which she touted all of Trump's accomplishments from the previous week.

Some, including former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, compared the segment to state TV that airs in places like Russia.

In August 2017, the Republican National Committee announced that McEnany would be joining its ranks as a national spokeswoman.

 

Kayleigh McEnany

"I am excited to be joining the RNC at such a crucial and historic time in our country," she said during a handout . "I'm wanting to mention Republican ideas and values and have important discussions about issues affecting Americans across this country."

McEnany has made headlines in recent years for creating a number of misleading, false, or incendiary claims.

McEnany was ridiculed by critics for claiming that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's June 2018 victory over then-Rep. Joe Crowley in their Democratic primary was evidence of a "red tsunami." Characteristic of McEnany, she refused to concede her error and instead insisted democratic socialist's win was evidence of a GOP resurgence.

In July 2018, she falsely claimed Democrats wanted Russian President Putin to send 'a few hundred thousand" Russians to the US to vote illegally in American elections.

McEnany falsely claimed on February 25 that "we won't see diseases just like the coronavirus come [to the US]" due to Trump's leadership. This was each day after US federal health officials announced it wasn't a matter of if, but when and the way severe the coronavirus outbreak would be within the US.

On an equivalent day Larry Kudlow said coronavirus was "contained" on Feb. 25th, Trump's campaign spox made a good more bold claim.

"We won't see diseases just like the coronavirus come here..and isn't it refreshing when contrasting it with the awful presidency of President Obama."