Kayleigh McEnany: Press Secretary Number Four

[GreyhoundFan]

Since it seems Kayleigh is going to be appearing more frequently, I thought I'd start a thread about her. The WaPo published this: "Trump TV’s ‘real news’ sounds more like real propaganda"

Spoiler

Kayleigh McEnany, who has been plying her trade as a pro-Trump pundit on CNN for a while, jumped ship to the Trump Team over the weekend. And Sunday, she debuted a Trump TV segment that she labeled the “real news.”

It is real spin, at best. And it feels a lot like real propaganda — or state TV.

In her first 90-second segment, McEnany makes a number of questionable claims, most notably about the credit President Trump deserves for continued strong economic growth. Below, I've transcribed the whole segment, with some reality checks interjected.

Hey, everybody. I'm Kayleigh McEnany. Thank you for joining us as we provide the news of the week from Trump Tower here in New York. More great economic news on Friday: The July jobs report added a better-than-expected 209,000 new jobs. Overall, since the president took office, President Trump has created more than 1 million new jobs, the unemployment rate is at a 16-year low, and consumer confidence is at a 16-year high — all while the Dow Jones continues to break records. President Trump has clearly steered the economy back in the right direction.

First off, it is true that the July jobs report was “better than expected.” It is also true that the unemployment rate is the lowest it's been since 2001. And these are legitimately good stories for Trump to tell.

But like Trump, McEnany takes it too far. Saying that Trump “has created more than 1 million jobs” and that Trump “has clearly steered the economy back in the right direction” is taking some real liberties. And that's for one big reason: The jobs picture has largely continued the trends from late in President Barack Obama's administration. In his first six months, the economy under Trump has indeed added more than 1 million new jobs — 1.07 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But in the last six months under Obama, the economy added slightly more jobs than that — 1.08 million. And if anything, the average jobs growth under Trump is actually slightly slower than it was in Obama's final years:

• Trump's first six months: 179,000 jobs per month
• Obama's final year (2016): 187,000
• Obama's full second term: 209,000

As Philip Bump noted after last month's jobs report, what we've seen looks more like a continuation of a strong trend that Trump inherited from Obama, rather than Trump steering “the economy back in the right direction.” Things were already headed in the right direction, in fact, so Trump didn't need to steer anything. He needed to keep it on course.

...

Beyond that, there's the question of how much credit a new president deserves for jobs created in his first months in office. Trump hasn't signed any major economic legislation. You can make a credible argument that his rhetoric has created the environment for continued strong growth, but saying he “created more than 1 million jobs” is just too much. The economy he oversees created those jobs. He may deserve some credit, but he didn't create them all.

Lastly, McEnany's claim that consumer confidence is at a 16-year high doesn't check out. The University of Michigan has been tracking consumer sentiment since 1952, and it's actually currently at a nine-month low. It did reach a 13-year high (not 16-year) under Trump this year, but as you can see below, it had already approached that high under Obama, and it's basically been around the same level for years, with a new peak and then a downturn under Trump.

...

And it's not just the University of Michigan. Gallup, which regularly measures economic confidence, also shows it dropping to levels similar to late in the Obama administration after peaking early under Trump.

...

Continuing on with McEnany …

On Wednesday, the president introduced the Raise Act. For decades, a steady rise in immigration has depressed the wages of American workers. The Raise Act will increase wages, decrease poverty and save the taxpayers billions. Americans deserve a raise, and President Trump is finally putting the American worker first.

The idea that immigration depresses wages is, again, highly debatable. The White House last week pointed to a study by Harvard economist George J. Borjas that suggested that low-skill immigrants do indeed reduce the wages of American workers. As Bump noted in a deep dive on this subject, others, including the conservative National Review, have poked holes in that research, noting that there are other factors that may be more to blame.

The point is that this “real news” is not an ironclad fact. And then McEnany goes on to promise that the Raise Act will “increase wages, decrease poverty and save taxpayers billions.” That's promising a lot.

Also on Wednesday, President Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to one of our Vietnam War heroes: Specialist 5 James McCloughan. McCloughan risked his life on nine separate occasions, saving many of his wounded peers. President Trump also honored veterans as a whole with yet another V.A. reform package that will enable millions of veterans to receive better access to care. President Trump is dedicated to honoring these men and women who fought valiantly for our country and ensuring that they receive the care that they deserve.

Trump has indeed signed a V.A. reform bill into law. It was two-and-a-half months ago, and it was a piece of what Trump aims to do to help improve veterans' care. So the “real news” here is basically using a Medal of Honor ceremony — which all presidents preside over — to play up something that happened months ago.

Thank you for joining us everybody. I'm Kayleigh McEnany, and that is the real news.

The term “fake news” became a punchline during the Trump administration. Trump TV now seems bent on doing the same with “real news.”

I couldn't bring myself to watch the video embedded in the article. I was afraid I'd break my laptop screen.

Edited August 4, 2020 by Coconut Flan

[Destiny]

Didn't she just get appointed RNC spokesman too? I'm just glad I don't have to see her on CNN anymore!

[Palimpsest]

13 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I'm Kayleigh McEnany, and that is the real news.

"I'm Kayleigh McEnemy, and this is the real FAKE news."

@GreyhoundFan, thanks so much for your dedication in posting all these articles and saving me so much time.  You are the BEST! 

[candygirl200413]

My sister walked by me and when I read it on twitter and she was like "is that just a slightly grown up looking version of Tomi Lahren?" why yes she is!

 

[JMarie]

37 minutes ago, Destiny said:

Didn't she just get appointed RNC spokesman too? I'm just glad I don't have to see her on CNN anymore!

She did!

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/345614-kayleigh-mcenany-named-rnc-spokesperson

[GrumpyGran]

34 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Since it seems Kayleigh is going to be appearing more frequently, I thought I'd start a thread about her. The WaPo published this: "Trump TV’s ‘real news’ sounds more like real propaganda"

  Hide contents

Kayleigh McEnany, who has been plying her trade as a pro-Trump pundit on CNN for a while, jumped ship to the Trump Team over the weekend. And Sunday, she debuted a Trump TV segment that she labeled the “real news.”

It is real spin, at best. And it feels a lot like real propaganda — or state TV.

In her first 90-second segment, McEnany makes a number of questionable claims, most notably about the credit President Trump deserves for continued strong economic growth. Below, I've transcribed the whole segment, with some reality checks interjected.

Hey, everybody. I'm Kayleigh McEnany. Thank you for joining us as we provide the news of the week from Trump Tower here in New York. More great economic news on Friday: The July jobs report added a better-than-expected 209,000 new jobs. Overall, since the president took office, President Trump has created more than 1 million new jobs, the unemployment rate is at a 16-year low, and consumer confidence is at a 16-year high — all while the Dow Jones continues to break records. President Trump has clearly steered the economy back in the right direction.

First off, it is true that the July jobs report was “better than expected.” It is also true that the unemployment rate is the lowest it's been since 2001. And these are legitimately good stories for Trump to tell.

But like Trump, McEnany takes it too far. Saying that Trump “has created more than 1 million jobs” and that Trump “has clearly steered the economy back in the right direction” is taking some real liberties. And that's for one big reason: The jobs picture has largely continued the trends from late in President Barack Obama's administration. In his first six months, the economy under Trump has indeed added more than 1 million new jobs — 1.07 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But in the last six months under Obama, the economy added slightly more jobs than that — 1.08 million. And if anything, the average jobs growth under Trump is actually slightly slower than it was in Obama's final years:

• Trump's first six months: 179,000 jobs per month
• Obama's final year (2016): 187,000
• Obama's full second term: 209,000

As Philip Bump noted after last month's jobs report, what we've seen looks more like a continuation of a strong trend that Trump inherited from Obama, rather than Trump steering “the economy back in the right direction.” Things were already headed in the right direction, in fact, so Trump didn't need to steer anything. He needed to keep it on course.

...

Beyond that, there's the question of how much credit a new president deserves for jobs created in his first months in office. Trump hasn't signed any major economic legislation. You can make a credible argument that his rhetoric has created the environment for continued strong growth, but saying he “created more than 1 million jobs” is just too much. The economy he oversees created those jobs. He may deserve some credit, but he didn't create them all.

Lastly, McEnany's claim that consumer confidence is at a 16-year high doesn't check out. The University of Michigan has been tracking consumer sentiment since 1952, and it's actually currently at a nine-month low. It did reach a 13-year high (not 16-year) under Trump this year, but as you can see below, it had already approached that high under Obama, and it's basically been around the same level for years, with a new peak and then a downturn under Trump.

...

And it's not just the University of Michigan. Gallup, which regularly measures economic confidence, also shows it dropping to levels similar to late in the Obama administration after peaking early under Trump.

...

Continuing on with McEnany …

On Wednesday, the president introduced the Raise Act. For decades, a steady rise in immigration has depressed the wages of American workers. The Raise Act will increase wages, decrease poverty and save the taxpayers billions. Americans deserve a raise, and President Trump is finally putting the American worker first.

The idea that immigration depresses wages is, again, highly debatable. The White House last week pointed to a study by Harvard economist George J. Borjas that suggested that low-skill immigrants do indeed reduce the wages of American workers. As Bump noted in a deep dive on this subject, others, including the conservative National Review, have poked holes in that research, noting that there are other factors that may be more to blame.

The point is that this “real news” is not an ironclad fact. And then McEnany goes on to promise that the Raise Act will “increase wages, decrease poverty and save taxpayers billions.” That's promising a lot.

Also on Wednesday, President Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to one of our Vietnam War heroes: Specialist 5 James McCloughan. McCloughan risked his life on nine separate occasions, saving many of his wounded peers. President Trump also honored veterans as a whole with yet another V.A. reform package that will enable millions of veterans to receive better access to care. President Trump is dedicated to honoring these men and women who fought valiantly for our country and ensuring that they receive the care that they deserve.

Trump has indeed signed a V.A. reform bill into law. It was two-and-a-half months ago, and it was a piece of what Trump aims to do to help improve veterans' care. So the “real news” here is basically using a Medal of Honor ceremony — which all presidents preside over — to play up something that happened months ago.

Thank you for joining us everybody. I'm Kayleigh McEnany, and that is the real news.

The term “fake news” became a punchline during the Trump administration. Trump TV now seems bent on doing the same with “real news.”

I couldn't bring myself to watch the video embedded in the article. I was afraid I'd break my laptop screen.

Wait, there's really a Trump TV? No. Faux News isn't enough for them?

[PreciousPantsofDoom]

I recall seeing her interviewed during the campaign. She was like some sort of demonically possesed blonde Bratz doll. (Or a younger pre zombiefie version of Kellyanne Conjob.)  Whatever was going on, whatever the question was, she would respond with a hymn of praise to St Trump.  I got the impression that if she tried to say anything negative about him, her head would explode.  Much as mine does if forced to watch her.

  I am sorry to hear that she has not (yet) been decommissioned and left to rust on the scrap heap of discarded Trump bots.

[onekidanddone]

5 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

@GreyhoundFan, thanks so much for your dedication in posting all these articles and saving me so much time.  You are the BEST! 

Sometimes I come here first before reading WoPo or NYT because even if it is horrid news @GreyhoundFan's reporting softens the blow and makes it easier to take. 

[fraurosena]

10 hours ago, GrumpyGran said:

Wait, there's really a Trump TV? No. Faux News isn't enough for them?

Silly @GrumpyGran. It doesn't have his name, so of course not.

[AmazonGrace]

Classic McInane: 

 

[GrumpyGran]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

Classic McInane: 

 

She'll fit right in! Complete unaware of history or facts. But her hair is blinding!

[GreyhoundFan]

"Kayleigh McEnany has always been a die-hard Trumper. Her RNC post just makes it official."

Spoiler

It was early July and the contentious news topic of the day, not unlike many days during the last six months, was a peculiar, early-morning tweet from President Trump.

Everywhere, people were pontificating about the doctored video Trump had shared at 8:21 a.m., showing him in a suit at a wrestling match, body-slamming and punching a man who had the CNN logo superimposed on his face. Alongside it he wrote: #FraudNewsCNN.

Now a CNN panel had been asked to analyze it.

...

The host first tapped political pundit Kayleigh McEnany, who had collected fame, millions of Twitter followers and a paycheck from CNN for committing, day after day, to vocalizing her die-hard defense of the president. For nearly two years, “Trump supporter” had been her official title. The network had given her a platform, but the billionaire-turned-commander-in-chief had given her an identity.

When faced with defending just one, would she choose boss or brand?

“You know, I think it was intended as a tongue-in-cheek, satirical video,” McEnany said right out of the gate. “Nothing serious.”

Another panelist, apparently exasperated, smirked and shook her head, which she’d flung into her hands.

McEnany’s rationalization was in stark contrast to many others in the media landscape, including her CNN bosses, who said in a statement that “it is a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters.”

Even so, McEnany kept defending Trump. It’s what CNN was paying her to do.

That ended Saturday, when the Trump surrogate abruptly announced she was leaving the network. On Sunday, she appeared in a video on Trump’s Facebook page, hosting a “Trump TV” segment called the “real news,” which critics have labeled propaganda. Then on Monday, the Republican National Committee named McEnany the party’s new spokesperson.

“Kayleigh will be an integral part of our Party’s ongoing commitment to promoting the Republican message to Americans across the country,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.

It’s a similar to a role previously held by Sean Spicer, another Trump surrogate who rose to prominence as an unflinching defender of the president’s agenda as White House press secretary — a loyalty for which he was mercilessly mocked.

McEnany, a 29-year-old Florida native with an Ivy League education, has dealt with her own share of backlash in her pursuit of punditry prominence.

...

Although she became a known entity just a few years ago, when she first started defending Trump’s policies as he campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination, McEnany has been preparing for a role like this since college.

She studied international politics at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and interned for Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) and later for White House Office of Media Affairs during President George W. Bush’s administration. She studied abroad for a year at Oxford University in England and went on to study law at the University of Miami before transferring to Harvard University, where she graduated with a law degree in May 2016.

All the while, she was beginning to build her brand.

She worked as a producer for three years on Mike Huckabee’s show at Fox News before trying her hand as an on-air analyst. She appeared as a co-host on CNN’s “The Point,” and made appearances elsewhere with Megyn Kelly, Gretchen Carlson and on other Fox programs, according to a profile of her while she was still at Miami in 2014.

“The beautiful thing about media, law and politics is that they all feed into each other,” McEnany said at the time.

She said in the law school story that she first got involved in politics as a teenager, when she carried around a book of Ronald Reagan quotes. Her on-the-job training on TV mixed with her legal schooling to make her think more critically, McEnany said.

“Writing really hard-hitting questions in media has helped me ask critical questions while studying law. I believe the facts should lead you to your conclusion,” she told the publication. “However, with ideologies, people tend to reach conclusions that are not necessarily supported by the facts. My law professors have gotten me to question my views on issues I had preconceived ideas about.”

But in her work on TV in the last two years, McEnany at times has offered some nonsensical defenses of Trump’s behavior and policies, putting her at odds with many of her co-panelists at CNN, creating an atmosphere once described as “Survivor: CNN Edition.”

That is exactly what her old network bosses intended.

...

In a New York Times profile, CNN president Jeff Zucker said his cast of pro-Trump panelists were “characters in a drama.”

“Everybody says, ‘Oh, I can’t believe you have Jeffrey Lord or Kayleigh McEnany,’” Zucker said, in what the Times described as “some satisfaction.”

“But you know what?” Zucker continued, “They know who Jeffrey Lord and Kayleigh McEnany are.”

In July 2015, McEnany was initially skeptical of Trump, telling CNN’s Don Lemon that in light of Trump’s comments calling Mexicans “rapists” and “criminals,” she hoped the candidate would “tone it down.”

“We can’t afford to have another Todd Akin on the campaign trail,” she said, referring to the former Missouri congressman’s remark that “legitimate rape” rarely causes pregnancy because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

But just six months later, McEnany wrote a fawning endorsement of Trump for president in a Daily Caller column, kickstarting what would the beginning of a head-first dive into the world of Team Trump. In July 2016, she quoted that endorsement for a commentary on CNN called “Why I am backing Donald Trump.”

A year later, McEnany’s doggedness has seemed to pay off. Her candidate is now the president, and she is his party’s official mouthpiece. In what Breitbart News branded as an “exclusive first interview” with McEnany since joined the RNC, she reflected on her role at CNN as a Trump supporter “trying to break through the narrative that was being sown.”

“What I’ve found is, going into the RNC, we are together,” McEnany told Breitbart. “What ‘together’ means is standing behind this president full throttle.”

I wish she'd get a job for Putin's communications wing, then we wouldn't have to hear her so frequently.

[GrumpyGran]

2 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"Kayleigh McEnany has always been a die-hard Trumper. Her RNC post just makes it official."

  Reveal hidden contents

It was early July and the contentious news topic of the day, not unlike many days during the last six months, was a peculiar, early-morning tweet from President Trump.

Everywhere, people were pontificating about the doctored video Trump had shared at 8:21 a.m., showing him in a suit at a wrestling match, body-slamming and punching a man who had the CNN logo superimposed on his face. Alongside it he wrote: #FraudNewsCNN.

Now a CNN panel had been asked to analyze it.

...

The host first tapped political pundit Kayleigh McEnany, who had collected fame, millions of Twitter followers and a paycheck from CNN for committing, day after day, to vocalizing her die-hard defense of the president. For nearly two years, “Trump supporter” had been her official title. The network had given her a platform, but the billionaire-turned-commander-in-chief had given her an identity.

When faced with defending just one, would she choose boss or brand?

“You know, I think it was intended as a tongue-in-cheek, satirical video,” McEnany said right out of the gate. “Nothing serious.”

Another panelist, apparently exasperated, smirked and shook her head, which she’d flung into her hands.

McEnany’s rationalization was in stark contrast to many others in the media landscape, including her CNN bosses, who said in a statement that “it is a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters.”

Even so, McEnany kept defending Trump. It’s what CNN was paying her to do.

That ended Saturday, when the Trump surrogate abruptly announced she was leaving the network. On Sunday, she appeared in a video on Trump’s Facebook page, hosting a “Trump TV” segment called the “real news,” which critics have labeled propaganda. Then on Monday, the Republican National Committee named McEnany the party’s new spokesperson.

“Kayleigh will be an integral part of our Party’s ongoing commitment to promoting the Republican message to Americans across the country,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.

It’s a similar to a role previously held by Sean Spicer, another Trump surrogate who rose to prominence as an unflinching defender of the president’s agenda as White House press secretary — a loyalty for which he was mercilessly mocked.

McEnany, a 29-year-old Florida native with an Ivy League education, has dealt with her own share of backlash in her pursuit of punditry prominence.

...

Although she became a known entity just a few years ago, when she first started defending Trump’s policies as he campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination, McEnany has been preparing for a role like this since college.

She studied international politics at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and interned for Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) and later for White House Office of Media Affairs during President George W. Bush’s administration. She studied abroad for a year at Oxford University in England and went on to study law at the University of Miami before transferring to Harvard University, where she graduated with a law degree in May 2016.

All the while, she was beginning to build her brand.

She worked as a producer for three years on Mike Huckabee’s show at Fox News before trying her hand as an on-air analyst. She appeared as a co-host on CNN’s “The Point,” and made appearances elsewhere with Megyn Kelly, Gretchen Carlson and on other Fox programs, according to a profile of her while she was still at Miami in 2014.

“The beautiful thing about media, law and politics is that they all feed into each other,” McEnany said at the time.

She said in the law school story that she first got involved in politics as a teenager, when she carried around a book of Ronald Reagan quotes. Her on-the-job training on TV mixed with her legal schooling to make her think more critically, McEnany said.

“Writing really hard-hitting questions in media has helped me ask critical questions while studying law. I believe the facts should lead you to your conclusion,” she told the publication. “However, with ideologies, people tend to reach conclusions that are not necessarily supported by the facts. My law professors have gotten me to question my views on issues I had preconceived ideas about.”

But in her work on TV in the last two years, McEnany at times has offered some nonsensical defenses of Trump’s behavior and policies, putting her at odds with many of her co-panelists at CNN, creating an atmosphere once described as “Survivor: CNN Edition.”

That is exactly what her old network bosses intended.

...

In a New York Times profile, CNN president Jeff Zucker said his cast of pro-Trump panelists were “characters in a drama.”

“Everybody says, ‘Oh, I can’t believe you have Jeffrey Lord or Kayleigh McEnany,’” Zucker said, in what the Times described as “some satisfaction.”

“But you know what?” Zucker continued, “They know who Jeffrey Lord and Kayleigh McEnany are.”

In July 2015, McEnany was initially skeptical of Trump, telling CNN’s Don Lemon that in light of Trump’s comments calling Mexicans “rapists” and “criminals,” she hoped the candidate would “tone it down.”

“We can’t afford to have another Todd Akin on the campaign trail,” she said, referring to the former Missouri congressman’s remark that “legitimate rape” rarely causes pregnancy because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

But just six months later, McEnany wrote a fawning endorsement of Trump for president in a Daily Caller column, kickstarting what would the beginning of a head-first dive into the world of Team Trump. In July 2016, she quoted that endorsement for a commentary on CNN called “Why I am backing Donald Trump.”

A year later, McEnany’s doggedness has seemed to pay off. Her candidate is now the president, and she is his party’s official mouthpiece. In what Breitbart News branded as an “exclusive first interview” with McEnany since joined the RNC, she reflected on her role at CNN as a Trump supporter “trying to break through the narrative that was being sown.”

“What I’ve found is, going into the RNC, we are together,” McEnany told Breitbart. “What ‘together’ means is standing behind this president full throttle.”

I wish she'd get a job for Putin's communications wing, then we wouldn't have to hear her so frequently.

See, I'm hoping she gets picked up in a prostitution sting on K Street and has to spend six hours or so convincing the cops that she really works for RNC. That's some heavy eye make-up and the hair! Oh, honey, tone it down a bit. You're suppose to look professional, just not that profession.

[onekidanddone]

On 8/9/2017 at 11:54 AM, GrumpyGran said:

See, I'm hoping she gets picked up in a prostitution sting on K Street and has to spend six hours or so convincing the cops that she really works for RNC.

She is pimping her soul for Trump. 

ETA: Does she work for the RNC or Trump? Because I see a split coming very soon and she will have to choose.

Edited August 10, 2017 by onekidanddone

[GreyhoundFan]

23 minutes ago, onekidanddone said:

ETA: Does she work for the RNC or Trump? Because I see a split coming very soon and she will have to choose.

She officially works for the RNC, but she's one of Donnie's Damsels. I think if it came down to one or the other, she would choose whichever one she thinks will give her the brightest future. Personally, I see her and Tomi competing to be Melania's successor.

[Cartmann99]

1 minute ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Personally, I see her and Tomi competing to be Melania's successor

You scare me when you reach inside my head like that. 

[Zola]

Imagine if Kellyanne Conway were available, and if Trump would give Ann Coulter a glance. I'd almost pay to see all four of these horrible women catfight. Scratching, biting, slapping, hair-pulling, eye-gouging...how far would they really go? How much is too much to win the title of fourth Mrs. Donald Trump?

Just morbid curiosity. I'll stop now.

Edited August 11, 2017 by Zola
spelling

[onekidanddone]

8 minutes ago, Zola said:

Scratching, biting, slapping, hair-pulling, eye-gouging...how far would they really go? How much is too much to win the title of fourth Mrs. Donald Trump?

Ugh I don't want to go to sleep tonight with this image in my head. Happy place. Happy place. Puppies and kittens and fluffy bunnies.

[GreyhoundFan]

1 hour ago, Cartmann99 said:

You scare me when you reach inside my head like that. 

LOL -- great minds think alike!!

 

[Ali]

57 minutes ago, Zola said:

Imagine if Kellyanne Conway were available, and if Trump would give Ann Coulter a glance. I'd almost pay to see all four of these horrible women catfight. Scratching, biting, slapping, hair-pulling, eye-gouging...how far would they really go? How much is too much to win the title of fourth Mrs. Donald Trump?

I could see this being his next reality tv show.

[GrumpyGran]

14 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

You scare me when you reach inside my head like that. 

Which brings me to a question that looms large in my head. Melania? She doesn't fit. I can see him thinking she was a good acquisition in the moment and we know buying and selling is his crack, maintaining not so much. But she does not fit the mold.

I swear that woman has something BIG on him. She publicly humiliates him by treating him like an idiot or worse, a disease, and yet he continues to provide her with a rather fabulous life. Very un-Trump-like. Notice he doesn't speak of her much, but NEVER ever disrespects her in any way.

[apple1]

36 minutes ago, GrumpyGran said:

Which brings me to a question that looms large in my head. Melania? She doesn't fit. I can see him thinking she was a good acquisition in the moment and we know buying and selling is his crack, maintaining not so much. But she does not fit the mold.

I swear that woman has something BIG on him. She publicly humiliates him by treating him like an idiot or worse, a disease, and yet he continues to provide her with a rather fabulous life. Very un-Trump-like. Notice he doesn't speak of her much, but NEVER ever disrespects her in any way.

Really?? I kind of see it the opposite way.

[GreyhoundFan]

@GrumpyGran and @apple1 -- My thought is that at the beginning, he had more on her. He had the money and connections and she wanted a comfortable life. They were probably leading fairly separate lives over the last few years before he decided to run for president, drifting towards the inevitable divorce. Then, when he decided to run for office, he realized that he needed her to make him appear more palatable to white Christians, since a recent divorce would be unseemly. So, the balance of power shifted slightly, and now she can dictate more to him, including a desire to basically hide. As to the future, there's no doubt that he forced her to sign an ironclad pre-nup, including language that restricts her from saying a negative word about him, with money and possibly her child as the leverage to keep her quiet, at least in public.

[GrumpyGran]

32 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

@GrumpyGran and @apple1 -- My thought is that at the beginning, he had more on her. He had the money and connections and she wanted a comfortable life. They were probably leading fairly separate lives over the last few years before he decided to run for president, drifting towards the inevitable divorce. Then, when he decided to run for office, he realized that he needed her to make him appear more palatable to white Christians, since a recent divorce would be unseemly. So, the balance of power shifted slightly, and now she can dictate more to him, including a desire to basically hide. As to the future, there's no doubt that he forced her to sign an ironclad pre-nup, including language that restricts her from saying a negative word about him, with money and possibly her child as the leverage to keep her quiet, at least in public.

I can't see him being able to get Barron away from her. He doesn't exactly have a history as a doting parent. And NY is a community property state? She may have a pre-nup but this is a whole new ball game. He's being investigated, on a federal level, for serious actions. Possibly criminal actions. I think he sees her as beautiful lamp. But she has ears. And anything other than straight boom-it's over-no-drama would lead to him having to reveal financial information. You know how he feels about that.

[fraurosena]

On 9-8-2017 at 3:42 PM, GreyhoundFan said:

"Kayleigh McEnany has always been a die-hard Trumper. Her RNC post just makes it official."

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It was early July and the contentious news topic of the day, not unlike many days during the last six months, was a peculiar, early-morning tweet from President Trump.

Everywhere, people were pontificating about the doctored video Trump had shared at 8:21 a.m., showing him in a suit at a wrestling match, body-slamming and punching a man who had the CNN logo superimposed on his face. Alongside it he wrote: #FraudNewsCNN.

Now a CNN panel had been asked to analyze it.

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The host first tapped political pundit Kayleigh McEnany, who had collected fame, millions of Twitter followers and a paycheck from CNN for committing, day after day, to vocalizing her die-hard defense of the president. For nearly two years, “Trump supporter” had been her official title. The network had given her a platform, but the billionaire-turned-commander-in-chief had given her an identity.

When faced with defending just one, would she choose boss or brand?

“You know, I think it was intended as a tongue-in-cheek, satirical video,” McEnany said right out of the gate. “Nothing serious.”

Another panelist, apparently exasperated, smirked and shook her head, which she’d flung into her hands.

McEnany’s rationalization was in stark contrast to many others in the media landscape, including her CNN bosses, who said in a statement that “it is a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters.”

Even so, McEnany kept defending Trump. It’s what CNN was paying her to do.

That ended Saturday, when the Trump surrogate abruptly announced she was leaving the network. On Sunday, she appeared in a video on Trump’s Facebook page, hosting a “Trump TV” segment called the “real news,” which critics have labeled propaganda. Then on Monday, the Republican National Committee named McEnany the party’s new spokesperson.

“Kayleigh will be an integral part of our Party’s ongoing commitment to promoting the Republican message to Americans across the country,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.

It’s a similar to a role previously held by Sean Spicer, another Trump surrogate who rose to prominence as an unflinching defender of the president’s agenda as White House press secretary — a loyalty for which he was mercilessly mocked.

McEnany, a 29-year-old Florida native with an Ivy League education, has dealt with her own share of backlash in her pursuit of punditry prominence.

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Although she became a known entity just a few years ago, when she first started defending Trump’s policies as he campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination, McEnany has been preparing for a role like this since college.

She studied international politics at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and interned for Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) and later for White House Office of Media Affairs during President George W. Bush’s administration. She studied abroad for a year at Oxford University in England and went on to study law at the University of Miami before transferring to Harvard University, where she graduated with a law degree in May 2016.

All the while, she was beginning to build her brand.

She worked as a producer for three years on Mike Huckabee’s show at Fox News before trying her hand as an on-air analyst. She appeared as a co-host on CNN’s “The Point,” and made appearances elsewhere with Megyn Kelly, Gretchen Carlson and on other Fox programs, according to a profile of her while she was still at Miami in 2014.

“The beautiful thing about media, law and politics is that they all feed into each other,” McEnany said at the time.

She said in the law school story that she first got involved in politics as a teenager, when she carried around a book of Ronald Reagan quotes. Her on-the-job training on TV mixed with her legal schooling to make her think more critically, McEnany said.

“Writing really hard-hitting questions in media has helped me ask critical questions while studying law. I believe the facts should lead you to your conclusion,” she told the publication. “However, with ideologies, people tend to reach conclusions that are not necessarily supported by the facts. My law professors have gotten me to question my views on issues I had preconceived ideas about.”

But in her work on TV in the last two years, McEnany at times has offered some nonsensical defenses of Trump’s behavior and policies, putting her at odds with many of her co-panelists at CNN, creating an atmosphere once described as “Survivor: CNN Edition.”

That is exactly what her old network bosses intended.

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In a New York Times profile, CNN president Jeff Zucker said his cast of pro-Trump panelists were “characters in a drama.”

“Everybody says, ‘Oh, I can’t believe you have Jeffrey Lord or Kayleigh McEnany,’” Zucker said, in what the Times described as “some satisfaction.”

“But you know what?” Zucker continued, “They know who Jeffrey Lord and Kayleigh McEnany are.”

In July 2015, McEnany was initially skeptical of Trump, telling CNN’s Don Lemon that in light of Trump’s comments calling Mexicans “rapists” and “criminals,” she hoped the candidate would “tone it down.”

“We can’t afford to have another Todd Akin on the campaign trail,” she said, referring to the former Missouri congressman’s remark that “legitimate rape” rarely causes pregnancy because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

But just six months later, McEnany wrote a fawning endorsement of Trump for president in a Daily Caller column, kickstarting what would the beginning of a head-first dive into the world of Team Trump. In July 2016, she quoted that endorsement for a commentary on CNN called “Why I am backing Donald Trump.”

A year later, McEnany’s doggedness has seemed to pay off. Her candidate is now the president, and she is his party’s official mouthpiece. In what Breitbart News branded as an “exclusive first interview” with McEnany since joined the RNC, she reflected on her role at CNN as a Trump supporter “trying to break through the narrative that was being sown.”

“What I’ve found is, going into the RNC, we are together,” McEnany told Breitbart. “What ‘together’ means is standing behind this president full throttle.”

I wish she'd get a job for Putin's communications wing, then we wouldn't have to hear her so frequently.

But, dear @GreyhoundFan, she is!

What else is the RNC now but another branch on Putin's tree?