On the day of her first formal press briefing at the White House, former Trump press secretary Kayleigh McEnany promised she would never lie to reporters—unlike her predecessor.
Whether intended or not, that promise didn't last long. After leaving the White House after Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 election, McEnany doesn't seem to have turned over a new leaf in her current job with Fox News.
McEnany—in a recent Fox News panel—discussed a tweet from Democratic Representative Cori Bush of Missouri.
Bush tweeted about United States' history, ending with:
"...Black people still aren't free."
When they say that the 4th of July is about American freedom, remember this: the freedom they\u2019re referring to is for white people.\n\nThis land is stolen land and Black people still aren\u2019t free.— Cori Bush (@Cori Bush) 1625413693
Not surprisingly, all participants of the all-White Fox News panel criticized Bush's tweet.
None more so than McEnany, who went on to say:
"The hater's never take a day off from hating, that is clear." "And they never take a day off from getting the facts wrong." "We know most of our forefathers, all of our main founding fathers, were against slavery, recognized the evil of it."
You can see her remarks here:
However, it was McEnany who got the facts wrong.
She was quickly re-buffed by Media Matters for America, a not-for-profit dedicated to "correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. Media." Some of the United States most prominent founding fathers not only approved of slavery, bug owned slaves and defended the practice during discussions that resulted in the early federal government.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were all slave owners. Over half of the members of the continental Congress that worked on the United States Constitution owned slaves.
Twitter users were also quick to correct McEnany's false statement.
Perfect example of why it's very important to get educated and trained in areas relating to slavery, diversity, sensitivity, race relations.\nKayleigh McEnany lies while defending slave owners: 'All of our main Founding Fathers were against slavery'https://www.rawstory.com/kayleigh-mcenany-slavery/\u00a0\u2026— SCMcGee (@SCMcGee) 1625594258
She didn\u2019t just \u201cget her facts wrong.\u201d\n\nIt was a bold faced lie— James Rodney (@James Rodney) 1625611918
Kayleigh McEnany claims "all of our Founding Fathers opposed slavery." She says they also watched Fox News and spent New Year's Eve at Mar-a-Lagopic.twitter.com/nEC12mkxMn— Paul Rudnick (@Paul Rudnick) 1625599623
Kaylie lied. It is who she is.— charlie (@charlie) 1625614877
Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany: \u201cWe know most of our forefathers, all of our main Founding Fathers were against slavery, recognized the evils of it.\u201d\n\nMcEnany should found a movement titled "uncritical race theory," also known as purposeful ignorance.— Dr. Andy Jones (@Dr. Andy Jones) 1625611004
Hey @kayleighmcenany where did you get your \u2018history\u2019. Last I checked most of the Founding Fathers themselves legally and unapologetically owned other human beings. Doesn\u2019t seem like they objected to slavery enough to emancipate THOSE enslaved people.— Susie Crimmins (@Susie Crimmins) 1625592922
Kayleigh McEnany thinks the founding fathers were against slavery and recognized the evils of it.\n\nApparently some founding fathers hated it so much they chose to keep slaves on their property as a reminder of how much they hated it. Is that what I\u2019m supposed to believe?— Matt Larson (@Matt Larson) 1625612953
One Twitter user shared haunting pictures of the restoration of the slave quarters at George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate.
last two pics are recreations at mount vernon of the quarters where george washington, who you may have heard of, kept the people he owned. https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/1412447713149566981\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/iY8wolD2Dy— Oliver Willis (@Oliver Willis) 1625588983
One can only assume McEnany never paid a visit to the Virginia landmark, as it's hard to imagine those who've seen George Washington's slave quarters would soon forget them.
Kayleigh McEnany claims "all of our Founding Fathers opposed slavery." She says they also watched Fox News and spent New Year's Eve at Mar-a-Lagopic.twitter.com/nEC12mkxMn— Paul Rudnick (@Paul Rudnick) 1625599623