The Shady Side Of Kayleigh McEnany

It's hard to be a political figure and not be polarizing in one way or another, but Kayleigh McEcnany takes it one step further. Many became aware of McEnany after she became one of the many White House press secretaries for Donald Trump throughout his presidency. But long before she took the mic to defend the former president, McEnany was your average American citizen.

The political commentator grew up in Florida and attended Catholic schools in her younger years before moving to Washington for college. She studied politics and even landed an internship in the White House during President George W. Bush's run. Everything in her life seemed to be building up to a career in politics, and that opportunity came when she landed a role as a political commentator. McEnany became a symbol as a Trump supporter, and it wasn't long before she became his press secretary in 2020.

During one of her first briefings, McEnany promised to "never lie" to reporters or the public, but many would say she did. McEnany didn't have much time in the role as Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, but her departure hasn't stopped her from making headlines. McEnany's time in the spotlight is filled with plenty of shady moments, even after her time as press secretary.

Many may be too afraid to come to Donald Trump's defense, considering how controversial he is, but Kayleigh McEnany is not one of them — even after their fallout.

In February 2024, McEnany fiercely defended Trump on Fox News against a poll that said he was the worst president. The survey was created by the Presidential Greatness Project and asked participants, made up of 154 political specialists and members of the American Political Science Association, to rank all 45 presidents. President Abraham Lincoln topped the list, which McEnany said was "fair," but when it came to Trump's ranking, she was upset by his placement. She said, "They are the ivory-tower elites who in no way represent the view of the American people ... Then comes Obama at seventh and Biden came in 14th, actually beating Ronald Reagan, who came in 16th, and Trump, dead last." McEnany was "infuriated" over Trump's placement and said it didn't represent the "view of the American people." However, many agreed with the poll's results and were willing to share why to McEnany.

George Conway, husband to Kellyanne Conway, had a shocking response to McEnany's defense of Trump. He tweeted, "Shocking that the one guy out of 45 who tried to destroy the thing that the job explicitly required him to preserve, protect, and defend would come in 45 out of 45." Many agreed with George, so despite McEnany's defense and shade thrown at other presidents, it seems not everyone disagreed with the poll.

President Joe Biden surprised many when he had an impromptu late-night press conference in February 2024. The speech addressed Robert Hur's report investigating Biden's handling of classified documents, in which he said there was no need for the president to be prosecuted. However, the documents did make jabs at Biden's memory and specifically remarks on how he claimed the president forgot the date of his son, Beau's, death. Biden was fired up about the remarks on his son's death in his conference, sharing, "How in the hell dare he raise that?" Biden was passionate during the speech, and Kayleigh McEnany had harsh opinions about the impromptu conference.

McEnany appeared on Fox News shortly after Biden's address and ripped the president apart. McEnany said, "We just saw an unmitigated disaster play out before our very eyes. We just watched a wounded political animal hobble to a podium and react with defensiveness, with anger." McEnany voiced that she believes the speech caused a sense of worry among the American people. She explained, "When you have a president who for 45 minutes announces a press conference with no topic, giving the world 45 minutes to speculate is he stepping aside ... For 45 minutes the nation got to feel that panic, and I don't think they will forget it come November." Biden may not have asked for it, but McEnany was more than willing to give her relentless critiques.

Kayleigh McEnany is willing to share any opinion, even when it may not be the truth. In October 2023, McEnany elaborated on a theory that California Governor Gavin Newsom, who had recently returned from a trip from China, was living a double life and secretly campaigning to become president. According to the governor's team, the reasoning behind his trip to China was to talk about "future collaboration" and "climate action." However, McEnany saw this as a cover-up and claimed on Fox News that Newsom was running a "shadow presidential campaign." She said, "Gavin Newsom's the willing partner in all of this praying and hoping somehow Biden steps aside, and he's waiting to jump right in."

To be fair, there was a lot of talk circulating at the end of 2023 that Newson could potentially run for president, especially as more concerns about Joe Biden's age came into play. Regardless of the rumors, the governor reassured him that he wouldn't run for president in the 2024 election. He told NewsNation in September 2023, "I'm all in on Biden ... This guy deserves [to be president], and we as members of the party deserve to have his back ... We gotta get this guy reelected." Despite this being a month before McEnany's "shadow presidential campaign" comments, she still spewed out speculation that Newsom was secretly making moves to become president.

Many Republican candidates tried to throw their hats in the ring against Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential Republican nominee run, but the Iowa caucus proved Trump's support is stronger than ever. Trump beat other republican nominees by a landslide, coming in at 51% of the votes compared to Ron DeSantis, who had a mere 21%, and Nikki Haley at 19% after 99% of the votes tallied. After his win, Trump delivered a speech that Kayleigh McEnany suggested was purposely cut off by CNN.

McEnany appeared on Fox News accusing CNN and major news outlets of trying to "censor this man" — the man being Trump — after some outlets did not air or only aired parts of the former president's winning Iowa speech. McEnany then went on to call out Jake Tapper specifically, sharing, "Jake Tapper. What a shameful moment from a so-called journalist, as you exposed him, he is not," (via The Hill). She continued, "To cut off Donald Trump and say, 'You can hear him under my voice saying anti-immigrant things.' He was not! Let the people hear the man speak. The leader of the Republican Party." After several minutes, CNN did cut away from Trump's speech, as Tapper said, "Here he is, right now, under my voice. You hear him repeating his anti-immigrant rhetoric." McEnany did not let Tapper's comments slide, letting him have it on-air.

Kayleigh McEnany is one of Donald Trump's top supporters and comes to his defense no matter how controversial he may be. It has always seemed to be this way, but the truth is that just before Trump became president in 2016, McEnany was willing to call him out.

Comments made by the political commentator resurfaced in 2020 after she was selected to be the White House press secretary. McEnany had appeared on Fox News in 2015 after Trump made racist remarks about Mexican immigrants and held him accountable. She said, "To me, a racist statement is a racist statement. I don't like what Donald Trump said." McEnany called Trump's comments "hateful" and even suggested his candidacy was all for show. But just a year later, McEnany was all in on Trump. So, what changed?

McEnany reportedly always wanted to be in front of the camera, and politician Michael Marcantonio told the New York Times that he gave life-changing advice to a young McEnany in 2015. He told her, "Donald Trump is going to be your nominee ... [if] a smart, young, blond Harvard graduate [wanted] to get on television and have a career as a political pundit, you would be wise to be an early backer," (via The Guardian). Not long after, McEnany became a vocal supporter of Trump, landing a gig on CNN that would establish herself as a lead political commentator on Trump's campaign.