Politics

Verification In Fact: Trump Has A White House Press Equipment All-female

Published

3 months ago

November 30, 2020

In a tweet announcing the new senior members of the White House staff, the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition Twitter account described how “for the first time in history, these communications roles will be filled entirely by women.”

Among some of the new incoming all-female senior communications team include Jen Psaki as White House press secretary, Symone Sanders as chief spokesperson for Harris and Biden campaign communications director Kate Bedingfield, who will serve as the White House communications director.

The Claim

Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary in Donald Trump‘s administration, dismissed the reports that this is a historic first move, tweeting that Trump already has an all-female senior White House press team, as does Vice President Mike Pence, first lady Melania Trump and second lady Karen Pence.

The Facts

Whether McEnany was being misleading about the female members of staff for the Trump and Pence teams depends on what she characterized as “senior” in her original tweet.

It is true that Trump has several high-ranking female members on his White House press team, with McEnany having the top job as press secretary. Trump’s current communications director is Alyssa Farah.

Melania Trump’s chief of staff and press secretary is Stephanie Grisham. Karen Pence’s director of communications is Kara Brooks, with Jana Toner both deputy assistant to the president and chief of staff to the second lady.

However, as also noted by Conway, the vice president’s press secretary is Devin O’Malley, who took over the role in May after Katie Miller was promoted to communications director.

It is unclear if McEnany counted Miller’s current role as Pence’s “ALL FEMALE Senior White House Press Team” while dismissing O’Malley’s current job.

However, if McEnany was referring either to Trump’s or Pence’s full communications team, then it is untrue that they are run by all-female staff.

Additionally, Judd Deere is Trump’s White House deputy press secretary and Brian Morgenstern is deputy communications director and deputy press secretary.

Responding to the reports of an all-female senior staff, Deere tweeted: “Since I arrived at the Trump White House a woman has always been my boss. First it was Hope Hicks, Mercedes Schlapp, and Sarah Sanders. Then it was Stephanie Grisham. And of course currently it’s Kayleigh McEnany and Alyssa Farah. I guess the media forgot?”

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany speaks during a press briefing on November 20, 2020, in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C.
MANDEL NGAN / AFP/Getty

The Ruling

False.

Even if you took McEnany’s original tweet to mean only the very top positions in the communications teams, you still would have to dismiss O’Malley and instead class Miller’s job as communications director as the main role for her claim to stand up.

If it was meant to mean the entire team—understandable because as it was in response to a Washington Post article announcing Biden’s full positions—there is no way to justify the claim of an all-female senior staff.

The White House communications team has been contacted for further comment.