Kayleigh McEnany Joins Fox News as Commentator

Before joining the Trump administration in April 2020, Ms. McEnany had served as press secretary for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and as a national spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee. She has experience on cable news, having been a frequent commentator on CNN after Mr. Trump was elected. Earlier in her career, she worked as a production assistant for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s show on Fox News.

Ms. McEnany was among the Trump administration officials who cast doubt on the results of the presidential election, criticizing what she called a “fraudulent mail-in ballot system” and describing plans for legal challenges in several states. Mr. Trump’s legal efforts failed, and no evidence of widespread election fraud surfaced.

During an interview on Fox News this week, Ms. McEnany described her reaction to the deadly Capitol riot on Jan. 6, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the legislature while lawmakers were meeting to certify President Biden’s victory. Ms. McEnany said that she had expected a peaceful rally that morning, during which Mr. Trump urged the crowd to fight for him and for the country, reiterating unfounded claims about a stolen election. She said in the interview that she grew “somber,” “sad” and “horrified” when the protest turned violent.

Fox has towered in cable news ratings for years but has lost some ground to rivals in recent months. It has faced competition on its right flank from Newsmax and One America News Network, which have courted viewers loyal to Mr. Trump. Fox News was the No. 3 network in total viewers in January, though its ratings have rebounded, and it has claimed the top spot in total prime-time viewership in recent weeks.

Fox News parent Fox Corp. and Wall Street Journal parent News Corp share common ownership.

It isn’t uncommon for White House veterans to look for opportunities in cable news. Fox News Media said last month that Larry Kudlow, who was director of Mr. Trump’s National Economic Council, would be an analyst for the news division and host his own weekday program on Fox Business Network. Mr. Kudlow was previously a host on CNBC.

There were a number of staff moves between the White House and Fox Corp. during the Trump administration, with White House officials frequently taking jobs at the company and vice versa.

Hope Hicks, a former White House aide, joined Fox Corp. in 2018 as chief communications officer before returning to the White House. Bill Shine, a former high-ranking executive at Fox News, left the network in 2017 and joined the White House in 2018. Raj Shah, a former White House spokesman, joined Fox Corp. in 2019.

Several White House spokespeople have attempted careers in media after leaving their lectern in the briefing room behind. George Stephanopoulos was a spokesman for former President Bill Clinton before becoming a political analyst for Walt Disney Co. ’s ABC News. Ari Fleischer, who served as White House press secretary for former President George W. Bush, is a contributor to Fox News. Current White House press secretary Jen Psaki, a former Obama administration staffer, was a commentator for CNN before joining the Biden transition team.

Ms. McEnany’s appointment has been in the works for some time. In a filing with the Office of Government Ethics earlier this year, Ms. McEnany listed an employment agreement with Fox News and a start date of sometime in January. She signed the disclosure form electronically on Jan. 12.

When her disclosure was posted online that month, Fox News said she wasn’t an employee or contributor at the network. At the time, a person familiar with the matter said employment talks between Ms. McEnany and Fox News had begun after the presidential election but were put on pause.

Write to Benjamin Mullin at [email protected]