Kayleigh McEnany caused confusion on Thursday, after she referred questions back to the White House during a TV appearance as a Trump campaign adviser. While speaking with the hosts of Fox & Friends on Thursday, McEnany — who is the White House press secretary — was asked if Donald Trump is open to allowing President-elect Joe Biden to receive daily intelligence briefings. Speaking in the capacity of Trump campaign surrogate, she replied, “I haven’t spoken to the president about that.”
McEnany then went on to say, “That would be a question more for the White House, but I will say that all laws are being followed with regard to an expected transition, though we expect to continue on as the Trump administration. We will see how our litigation goes.” The move has been widely criticized on social media, with Joe Lockhart, who once served as press secretary in former President Bill Clinton’s administration, tweeting, “It’s getting lost in larger outrages, but [McEnany’s] behavior is both outrageous and damaging. You can not be both a paid government employee and a spokesperson for the White House. It’s against the law. You can’t refer q’s to yourself wearing a different hat. Prosecute this.” Scroll down to see what others are saying about the moment.
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The House oversight committee should subpoena @kayleighmcenany to testify about her dual role as a government employee and campaign adviser. The subpoena should go to her as a campaign adviser so she can’t hide behind her WH job. She can and should be held in contempt for ducking
— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) November 12, 2020
“So..is there someone at the White House we can ask?? Say, a press secretary perhaps? Can you get us a name?” someone wrote.
Wait, what?! White House Press Sec, who recieves a six figure tax-payer salary for that job, deferred a question about intelligence briefings for @JoeBiden & @KamalaHarris to the White House (?!) during an appearance on FOX News where she appeared as a “Trump campaign advisor.”
— Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCBS) November 12, 2020
No. She shouldn’t be working in a campaign capacity at all as a federal, executive branch employee. It’s called the Hatch Act.
— Chappy (@TweetChappy) November 12, 2020
“Does anyone have a running tab on the number of peeps & the number of times this corrupt administration has violated the Hatch Act? We can just start with 2020. I pay my employees. I pay my taxes. Why is it that we’re paying for KayLie to go on Foxey News & campaign (lie)?” another said.
So… for whom does Secretary of Defensiveness Kayleigh McEnany speak?
— Andrew McGill (@AndrewMcGIsMe) November 12, 2020
It’s the @kayleighmcenany story: The Audacity of Dope https://t.co/b9JfmPvqfX
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) November 12, 2020
“Trump started receiving intelligence briefings right away. Blocking Biden is obstructing his need to know info. It is vital Biden get these briefings to keep him up to date when he takes office. Trump is literally keeping him in the dark. What doesn’t he want him to find out?” another wrote.
Asked whether President-elect Biden will receive the PDB:
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) November 12, 2020
Kayleigh McEnany, on Fox News, this morning: “That would be a question more for the White House.”
Kayleigh McEnany, back at the White House, moments ago, to me: “We are following all statutory requirements. That’s that.” https://t.co/Ww373OLlLU
The Trump regime is a corrupt criminal enterprise.
— Ron Waxman 🏳️🌈 (@RonWaxman) November 12, 2020
“I assume[McEnany’s] salary is now being paid by the Trump campaign? As a tax payer, I will not pay for this Trump spokesperson to be paid by our government,” someone else said.
Nicely done. pic.twitter.com/bQmlLAotBs
— #BidenHarris2020 (@mikkiundergrnd) November 12, 2020
In other words: No. Joe will not receive intelligence briefings.
— Christopher Wilson (@ChrisCtkwilson) November 12, 2020
Absolutely inexcusable.
“Who the hell enforces the Hatch Act?! This is outrageous. These people flaunt their disregard for the rule of law on a daily basis and it’s a slap in the face to Americans everywhere,” someone else tweeted.
Follow up: “Yeah, Kayleigh, is there someone at the White House, who works with press, who might be able to answer that? Anyone you know or may in fact be? Anyone?”
— doug mcnamara (@dougjmcn) November 12, 2020
She should bring a special hat to these interviews where she distinguishes which Kayleigh is speaking at any given moment. “That would be a question for the White House.”
— Ryan H. Walsh (@JahHills) November 12, 2020“Ok, what was the question?”
“So she’s speaking here as a campaign operative and not the White House press secretary. I didn’t realize we were paying her salary to work as a campaign aide,” another said.
That’s above the market rate to pretend you saw election fraud!
— Jeff Rueter (@jeffrueter) November 12, 2020
Sarah Sanders: “No one could be a worse @PressSec than me!”@kayleighmcenany: “Hold my beer.”
— Jeremy Pond (@JeremyPond) November 12, 2020
“Ha! See without her big binder of lies, she inadvertently admits that she works for Trump and not the American people as White House press secretary. This is a priceless and stunning admission by Kayleigh,” another wrote.
Kayleigh at the white house pic.twitter.com/x7FeAfeEGS
— Vincent Lafontaine 🇨🇦🚒 (@Vincenzo_flame) November 12, 2020
