In a sweeping profile published at The Atlantic this Thursday, Emma Green takes a look at White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany's rise to the coveted White House, and how she developed such a combative relationship with the news media.
At one point in the piece, Green touches on McEnany's history as a conservative Christian.
"McEnany began her life as an evangelist among the masses. 'KMac,' as she was called, stood out as a Protestant at the Academy of the Holy Names, a Catholic girls’ school in Tampa, Florida, choosing to write about Jesus, whom she called 'my hero,' for a sixth-grade poetry assignment: 'I shout his name,' McEnany wrote, 'for he is king.' She grew up in a conservative Republican household in nearby Plant City, and her father operates a roofing business," Green writes.
Now, her role in the Trump administration has some of her former Christian mentors a little disturbed.
"McEnany’s role in the Trump administration played differently on the Facebook page of her alma mater, the Academy of the Holy Names," Green writes. "When the school announced her promotion to press secretary, a debate broke out in the comments over whether the academy should be congratulating her at all. Some classmates expressed confusion about how their Christian education aligns with the vision of politics she promotes."
While some of her former peers defended her role as press secretary, one of McEnany’s former teachers conveyed disappointment in how she got there.
"We taught that truth was not expediency but was the touchstone of relationships,” the teacher told Green. “Much of the rhetoric I have read and interviews I have seen when she was a commentator on television show how far from [the academy’s] values she now espouses. This saddens me.”
Read the full profile over at The Atlantic.
