Is Fox News hiring Kayleigh McEnany? Network 'pauses' job offer as Trump aide Larry Kudlow lands weekday show
While former President Donald Trump's economic aide Larry Kudlow is all set to get a show on Fox Business Network, former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany's job offer with Fox News was put on hold following the MAGA riot at the Capitol earlier this month.
After the watchdog group CREW obtained McEnany's disclosure report from January 12 which showed that she had an offer from Fox News in January, people wanted to know what happened to her employment possibilities after her previous employer failed to secure a win in the 2020 election. McEnany had an "employment agreement with Fox News, starting work in January," the report said. From the date of filing it was clear that it was before her departure from the Trump administration. Her last working day at the White House was on January 19, the day before President Joe Biden took the oath of office. A Fox spokesperson confirmed to Daily Mail that "Kayleigh McEnany is not currently an employee or contributor at FOX News."
So, what happened to the offer?
Ideally, there should not have been an issue when it comes to hiring McEnany for their cable network as she was a familiar face on various segments on Fox News during her time as White House press secretary. But apparently, the process of hiring her was paused after McEnany has discussions with the right-wing network. "Initial conversations were had post-election and we paused on them," a source familiar with the matter said. "We do not discuss the details behind contracts with any personnel, but we are open to hiring her in the future given we do not condone cancel culture."
According to a tally by The Washington Post, McEnany made 20 appearances on Fox News, after the election. She has also had experience appearing on CNN during the 2016 election before she started working with the Republican National Committee and then the Trump re-election campaign. She later joined the White House in a staff shake-up brought by then-chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Impact of Capitol attack
The events that took place on January 6, when a pro-Trump mob stormed into the Capitol building, might have had something to do with McEnany not landing a job with Fox.
During her last appearance as White House press secretary on January 7, the day after the attack that left five dead, she condemned the actions, saying she spoke for the entire administration in her denouncement of the violence. "Let me be clear, the violence we saw yesterday at our nation's capital was appalling reprehensible and antithetical to the American way," she said. "What we saw yesterday was a group of violent rioters undermining the legitimate first amendment rights of the many thousands who came to peacefully have their voices heard, in our nation's capital."
She spoke for less than two minutes reading a statement from her notebook, before leaving the press briefing without taking any questions.
Larry Kudlow lands a job
Kudlow, who was Trump's chief economic aide, however, will be getting a weekday show on Fox Business Network, despite the fact that he regularly underplayed the real-time struggles that the US economy faced and repeatedly claimed that the pandemic was over. In February 2020, he infamously said of the pandemic: "We have contained this. I won’t say airtight, but it’s pretty close to airtight." Until 2014, Kudlow had had his own show on CNBC and was then a regular on the business network's other shows.