The Tragic Truth Of Kayleigh McEnany

Kayleigh McEnany may have been Donald Trump's press secretary, but she's also made a number of headlines in her own right over the years. Unfortunately, not all news is good news, and some of the reasons she's made those headlines have been downright sad. 

We'll start with McEnany's BRCA 2 genetic mutation diagnosis. In April 2018, she opened up about the diagnosis in an op-ed for Fox News. "Eight women in my family line have been diagnosed with breast cancer — several in their young 20s," she wrote. Because of just how prevalent the disease was in their family, her mom decided to be tested for the BRCA 2 genetic mutation in 2009. Sadly, she learned that she did have the mutation, but armed with that knowledge, she immediately had a preventative double mastectomy. The very day her mom came out of surgery, McEnany took the same test — and devastatingly found that she had the mutation, too. "A cascade of uncontrollable tears poured down my face as I shared the news with my family," she wrote. 

Even with the frightening diagnosis, McEnany's dad reminded her that the one upside was she would be able to look for signs proactively, which she might not have done had she not been tested for the mutation. McEnany wrote that she did just that, but that the experience had nonetheless been terrifying. "My dozens of mammograms, ultrasounds and MRIs have been punctuated with false alarms and periods of creeping worry," she shared. McEnany tried to stay calm between each test, which wasn't easy. "There were always reminders — the pink NFL equipment during football season, new studies in the news, or the tragic and growing list of women who have [succumbed] to the ugly disease," she explained. A heartbreaking reality, indeed. 

Ultimately, Kayleigh McEnany decided to take the same measures her mom had after learning about her BRCA 2 mutation gene and scheduled a double mastectomy. It was a step she knew she needed to take — however, even with her mom having gone through it before, she admitted in her Fox News op-ed that she struggled to find many other pre-surgery stories to relate to. As such, just as she never hid her diagnosis with the BRCA 2 mutation gene, McEnany wrote that she specifically wanted to open up about her pre-surgery feelings so that others wouldn't have the same difficulty finding those testimonies.  

As for the surgery itself, McEnany went under the knife just days after the op-ed was published. A year later, she shared some of what she'd done to prepare for the procedure in another Fox News piece. Part of that included shopping for new bras. However, as McEnany recounted, her sister had found a pair of socks with lemons on them during their shopping trip. Those ended up being her non-negotiables for the day she was booked in, and she cited a scene from "This is Us" as the reason why. "In the show, the sage, old doctor offers these words of wisdom to a father who had just lost one of his newborn triplet children: 'I like to think that one day you'll be an old man like me talking a young man's ear off explaining to him how you took the sourest lemon that life has to offer and turned it into something resembling lemonade,'" she quoted. 

McEnany finished off her op-ed with another quote about turning lemons into lemonade, and also shared, "I had gone from creeping worry to peaceful tranquility." We're happy to hear it.

Some may remember that in Kayleigh McEnany's 2020 RNC speech, she gushed over Donald Trump's response to her surgery. "As I recovered, my phone rang again. It was President Trump, calling to check on me. I was blown away — here was the leader of the free world, caring about my circumstance," she shared, adding that she didn't even know him that well at the time (via PBS News Hour). It certainly was a touching gesture. Sadly, though, she didn't stay in Trump's favor long-term. 

It's thought that McEnany and Trump's fallout began after she erroneously reported polling numbers on Fox News in 2023. As some may remember, she had said he was 25 points ahead of Ron DeSantis, but was nine points short. "Kayleigh 'Milktoast' McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers on FoxNews," began his Truth Social rant (via X). If it's any consolation, Trump's shady "Milktoast" nickname showcased a mistake on his own part (something McEnany, who is more qualified than many may realize thanks to her degrees from both Georgetown and Harvard, may even have picked up on). However, it's also possible she found his words hurtful. After all, he also not-so-subtly called for her to be replaced. "FoxNews should only use REAL Stars!!!" he raved (via X). 

Sadly, the taunts weren't done there. Roughly a year later, McEnany shared on Fox News Live that she believed Trump should focus on uniting the party, as the New Hampshire primary had shown not all Republicans were in his corner. Referring to how he had performed against Nikki Haley, Trump responded on Truth Social (via Independent), "Just had a GIANT VICTORY over a badly failing candidate, 'Birdbrain,' and [McEnany is] telling me what I can do better."  FWIW, McEnany didn't respond to either of his eloquently worded criticisms. 

Sadly for Kayleigh McEnany, Donald Trump isn't the only person to have questioned her credibility. On the contrary, a number of critics have called McEnany out for having a shady side and dubious track record with the truth. In particular, many had a field day after she said she never lied in her capacity as Trump's press secretary and used her faith and motherhood to bolster her argument. "Having faith in a religion, and being a mother does not validate honesty in any way. The implication that it does, is in itself, a lie," wrote one YouTube commenter. "Lies about lying," penned another.

Many media outlets shared that viewpoint. In fact, Forbes' chief content officer went as far as urging the corporate sector not to hire McEnany or any of Trump's press secretaries from his first administration. Making his stance crystal clear, Randall Lane warned, "Hire any of Trump's fellow fabulists ... and Forbes will assume that everything your company or firm talks about is a lie. We're going to scrutinize, double-check, investigate with the same skepticism we'd approach a Trump tweet." Yikes. 

Of course, McEnany has continued to work since leaving the White House. In fact, just months after Forbes' scathing commentary, she was hired by Fox to co-anchor "Outnumbered." Sure, Trump has made it clear that he's not a fan of her being on the show, but at least at the time of this writing, that doesn't seem to have affected her employment. Small wins, we guess.