Kayleigh McEnany named as co-host of Fox News show ‘Outnumbered’

Oliver O'Connell
·2 min read
Media Fox McEnany (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Media Fox McEnany (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
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After much speculation regarding a permanent role at the network, Fox News has named Kayleigh McEnany as a co-host of the panel show Outnumbered.

Donald Trump’s former White House press secretary will appear daily from 6 April alongside Harris Faulkner, the show’s founding anchor, and co-host Emily Compagno.

The three will be joined in each episode by a series of rotating panelists as per the show’s format.

“Kayleigh’s unique background in politics and law coupled with her experiences confronting women’s health challenges and life as a new mom will add robust insight to Outnumbered,” Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media, said on Tuesday.

“We are delighted to welcome her back to Fox News where she began her media career.”

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Ms McEnany added: “I am thrilled to join the incredible women of Outnumbered and look forward to working alongside the talented Harris Faulkner and Emily Compagno as we discuss the top issues impacting the country.”

The former White House staffer joined the network as an on-air commentator earlier in March, providing opinions and analysis on shows including Fox & Friends, America Reports and The Five.

As press secretary, Ms McEnany famously vowed never to lie to the White House press corps but was frequently accused of doing just that.

Before her time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Ms McEnany was national press secretary for the Trump 2020 re-election campaign, and once served as the spokesperson for the Republican National Committee.

She began her career in politics as an intern for former Republican Florida representative Adam Putnam, and later, worked in the White House Office of Media Affairs during the George W Bush administration.

Ms McEnany’s media experience includes working as a political analyst for CNN during the 2016 presidential election across the network’s daytime and primetime programmes.

Her television career began as an intern for Fox News, where she later became a production assistant prior to attending law school, before taking an on-air role at CNN. She was also a contributor toThe Hill and wrote a column for Above the Law.

Ms McEnany’s recent appearances on the network have included swipes at current White House press secretary Jen Psaki, a segment in which it was claimed the Joe Biden wears a mask to hide his mental decline, and another in which she asserted that former president Trump finds his Twitter ban “freeing”.

At the beginning of March The Daily Beast reported disquiet among some staff at the network for the decision to bring Ms McEnany on board.

One inside described her as “mini-Goebbels” and decried the loss of hard-working journalists and decline in conservative news content in favour of “extremist propaganda”.