Fox Hires Kayleigh McEnany

Former press secretary drew criticism for making false statements in Trump White House
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 2, 2021 4:05 PM CST
Fox Hires Kayleigh McEnany
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany speaks during a briefing in December.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Fox News announced on the air Tuesday that Kayleigh McEnany, who was press secretary in the Trump White House, has been hired as a commentator. In her first appearance as an employee, McEnany said the former president wasn't responsible for the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, CNN reports. Fox made no comment about the hiring other than Harris Faulkner's announcement, per NBC. McEnany was often criticized for making false statements as press secretary—after starting her tenure by promising reporters "I will never lie to you"—and some staff members told the Daily Beast they're unhappy about the hiring. In November, Fox cut away from McEnany's briefing when she accused Democrats of election fraud. Her predecessor, Sarah Sanders, also took a job at Fox after leaving the White House; she's since left to run for governor of Arkansas.

"It's truly disgusting they fired hardworking journalists who did care about facts and news reporting only to turn around" and hired someone "whose incessant lies from the White House helped incite an insurrection," one Fox source said. "It's upsetting," a staff member said. "So many good people are out of a job now, and I'm sure she'll get a huge contract." On the other hand, the employee said, "Our audience loves Kayleigh." Still another put the hiring in the context of the credibility of the network's reporting: "It bothers me in that it is basically a slap in the face to the hardworking journalists that value real news and facts." Fox News has been trying to bring back Trump supporters who turned elsewhere after its Election Night call that President Biden carried Arizona. That turned out to be correct, but it angered Trump and many of his supporters. (More Kayleigh McEnany stories.)

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