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Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany Says It's Actually CNN's Fault That She Trash-Talked Trump Back in 2015

Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany Says It's Actually CNN's Fault That She Trash-Talked Trump Back in 2015
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Things got awkward fast when a reporter asked new Trump administration Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany about her past opinions on President Donald Trump.

McEnany replaced Stephanie Grisham, who made history by being the first press secretary to never hold a press briefing.


Curiously, McEnany wasn't always a fan of Trump.

Shortly before the press conference, videos from 2015 resurfaced of McEnany expressing her true feelings on Trump's campaign and impending presidency.

McEnany did not hold back while speaking with CNN, calling Trump "racist" and "hateful" for his derogatory remarks on Mexican immigrants.

"To me, a racist statement is a racist statement. I don't like what Donald Trump said."

She also considered Trump's candidacy to be a joke.

"Donald Trump has shown himself to be a showman. I don't think he is a serious candidate. I think it is a sideshow. It's not within the mainstream of the candidates."

She pointed out his flaky relationship with political parties and described his label as a Republican as "inaccurate".

"He supports eminent domain. He supported tax increases before. He's donated $300,000 to Democratic candidates. So, the fact that the Republican Party is now having to claim him, is both unfortunate, and to me, inauthentic."

She also disapproved of the hateful rhetoric he spewed during rallies.

"Donald Trump is number two and doesn't deserve to be there. I appreciate his boldness and I think some of his rhetoric got the base excited, but it is not welcome rhetoric."

When it came to uniting Republican voters, she wholeheartedly doubted his ability to do so.

"Donald Trump is the last person who's going to do that."

It only took a paycheck for McEnany to change her tune.

After Trump won the 2016 presidential election, she began working for Fox News. Since then, McEnany has become one of the President's fiercest defenders.

Her efforts have now earned her a spot on Trump's team as press secretary.

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Grisham, who preceded McEnany, preferred to speak exclusively with conservative outlets instead of to the public.

McEnany broke that habit this month with mixed results.

Without control over her audience, McEnany was subjected to tougher questions.

A reporter asked McEnany about her past opinions and she decided to not take responsibility for them.

"Well, I'm actually glad you asked that, because for about the first four weeks of the election, um, I was watching CNN, and I was naively believing some of the headlines that I saw on CNN."

She rambled on:

"I very quickly came around to supporting the President. CNN hired me. I was on many eight one one panels where I proudly supported this President, who I think is one of the best Presidents, if not the best President this country will ever have."

Looking down and obviously reading from prepared statements, she veered off topic to insist that the accusations of Russian collusion against the Trump administration were false.

She listed off various people's quotes, including from former Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper and former U.S. Ambassador Samantha Powers, who also defended Trump regarding the controversy.

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Looking for a more solid answer, the reporter pressed McEnany on if she still believed in what she said in 2015.

She did her best to avoid answering.

"I support this President. There is no questioning that. I'm so honored to work for him. Next question."

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People on Twitter reacted to McEnany's robotic and rehearsed responses.







If this performance was any indication, the American people should prepare to continue to get dishonesty out of the press secretary.

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