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Former Fox News figure takes over as White House press secretary
WASHINGTON, April 15, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Kayleigh McEnany, a former
Fox News figure who is fiercely loyal to President Donald Trump, took
over Wednesday as his new press secretary, entering the high-profile
job at a time of turmoil in White House relations with the press.
McEnany, 31, made the formal announcement a week after her
predecessor Stephanie Grisham stepped down.
“Honored to join the @WhiteHouse as President Trump’s @PressSec,”
she tweeted. “I look forward to connecting the American People to
@realDonaldTrump’s agenda and sharing the historic successes of this
Administration.”
A graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Law School, McEnany
worked for Fox and CNN before joining the Republican National
Committee communications team. She then became the Trump 2020
reelection campaign spokeswoman.
She enters the White House as Trump is in open war with several
major news outlets over critical coverage of his response to the
coronavirus pandemic.
The crisis and the economic fallout have reshaped Trump’s reelection
bid, which was previously based on a once-booming economy that is now
deteriorating terribly by the day.
McEnany has been criticized over past comments including support for
Trump’s conspiracy theory that former president Barack Obama was not
born in the United States — a falsehood seen by many as racist.
She has also drawn fire over a comment she made on Fox Business in
February downplaying the coronavirus threat, saying, “We will not see
diseases like the coronavirus come here, we will not see terrorism
come here, and isn’t that refreshing when contrasting it with the
awful presidency of President Obama?”
McEnany faces the immediate question of whether she will actually
brief journalists, as press secretaries have traditionally always
done, or maintain Grisham’s policy of talking largely to Fox News.
A hallmark of the Trump White House is that he likes to act as his
own spokesman, tweeting and giving frequent press conferences, rather
than going through the press office.
In her nine-month tenure, Grisham gave no formal press briefings.
BSS/AFP/MRU/2128hs