Kayleigh McEnany accidentally ended up criticizing former President Donald Trump while trying to slam current President Joe Biden on Twitter, and promptly deleted the tweet. She didn't manage to delete it before the internet got ahold of it and started to drag her for it, though.
McEnany, who previously served as the 33rd White House Press Secretary, tweeted a graph of the fluctuation in murder rate in the United States from 1960-2020 with the caption:
"The U.S. murder rate under Joe Biden..."
The problem with McEnany's assertion is that Joe Biden was not, in point of fact, United States President in 2020. That would have been her beloved former boss, Donald Trump.
McEnany is known to stretch the truth to defend Trump in the press. Less than a month ago, she claimed on Fox News that the country saw fewer crises during the Trump presidency than under Biden's administration.
"We are eight months into a Biden presidency, Jesse. Wrap your head around that. We still have three years and four months left. Look, when President Trump was President, you didn't see crisis after crisis. You just didn't see it."
As anyone who was paying attention during the Trump presidency would know, that claim was patently false.
CNN's Brian Stelter tweeted a screenshot of McEnany's now-deleted tweet.
So, @kayleighmcenany has deleted this tweet, which showed 2020's spike in the murder rate under her then-boss President Trump. She falsely blamed Biden. She hasn't posted a correction or apologized to her followers.pic.twitter.com/zs4ypaOQSA— Brian Stelter (@Brian Stelter) 1632414100
The fact that McEnany deleted her tweet definitely hasn't stopped Twitter users from continuing to drag her, thanks to the power of screenshots.
Kayleigh McEnany can delete her tweet, but the internet is forever. Donald J. Trump was the President for the whole of 2020, @kayleighmcenanypic.twitter.com/0Qn7DewYig— KeanoTheDog (@KeanoTheDog) 1632420155
Apologising\u2026carries with it the underlying assumption that someone has done something wrong. In this case, McEnany doesn't feel/think/believe she's done anything wrong\u2026just the opposite, she thinks she's done something good/right - so why should she apologise?— Danielle Lawrence (@Danielle Lawrence) 1632419099
And she never will. Trump rule #1: never admit defeat.— Libel (@Libel) 1632417292
So Kayleigh McEnany had to delete this tweet because she forgot trump was president in 2020. \n\nAnyone else want to forget? pic.twitter.com/0MedSYp6p0— Mel the Enforcer (@Mel the Enforcer) 1632420579
Why\u2019d you delete this tweet, Kayleigh? Did you forget that Trump was President in 2020? Yeah, we are trying to forget, too. pic.twitter.com/wCWLIB29kR— Jonathan Levine (@Jonathan Levine) 1632416733
Hey @kayleighmcenany, why did you delete this tweet? Finally figured out your propaganda noise was putting the blame on your former boss man? It's hysterical! Thanks for pointing out how much the murder rate INCREASED during the final year of his horrendous reign of terror.https://twitter.com/rorycooper/status/1441022243673415686\u00a0\u2026— MJ \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2 \ud83d\udc89#GetTheDamnVax #VoteBlue (@MJ \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2 \ud83d\udc89#GetTheDamnVax #VoteBlue) 1632420419
Despite having deleted her previous tweet, presumably because of the backlash, McEnany seems to have missed the point of everyone's criticism. She subsequently tried again, quote-tweeting the same graph with a new caption trying to blame Biden for something that happened a year before he became president.
Her new tweet tried to place the blame for rising crime rates at the feet of mayors of cities that are working to defund police forces, but somehow also places fault at the feet of Biden as well.
From the White House podium in August 2020, I warned Defund would result in rising crime.\n\nSadly, I was right. \n\nBiden you enabled this. \n\nDefund, Democrat mayors, you own this!\n\nThe receipts https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/1440762413544984579\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/iRtjBfgTiM— Kayleigh McEnany (@Kayleigh McEnany) 1632416085
McEnany's second attempt isn't faring any better on Twitter.
What\u2019s a girl to do when she gets called out for a tweet blaming Biden for a 2020 spike in crime?\u2026 \n\ndelete it and repost w/ \u201creceipts\u201d from 2019\n\nGlad to see your still useless. It\u2019s very refreshing.pic.twitter.com/nVDfEpYDV5— Boebert is a Criminal (@Boebert is a Criminal) 1632423672
This is far from the first time McEnany has put out information that isn't entirely factual. It was a common enough occurrence that Business Insider was able to compile a list of 5 times she blatantly lied to the press during her tenure as Press Secretary.
It remains to be seen whether she will also delete her newest tweet, but it seems likely—given the backlash in the comments.
@PreetBharara/X
@RepBrendanBoyle/X
@twesq/Bluesky
@christopherharris/Bluesky
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@FrankC164/X
AMC