Karoline Leavitt is on maternity leave and the White House has a new face at the podium.
Anna Kelly, 29, the Principal Deputy Press Secretary and a former Miss State Fair of Virginia, stepped into the role on Friday. Her first major solo appearance on Fox News did not go entirely as planned.
Kelly studied Political Science at Auburn University before completing a Master’s in Political Management at George Washington University. While earning that degree she competed in the 2019 Miss State Fair of Virginia and won, running on a platform to end what she called the apathy epidemic among young voters. “My generation stands in an incredible position of power,” she told the Fairfax Times at the time.
Back in 2016, she had written on Facebook that she was “a firm believer that pageants are the single best preparation tool for young women who hope to run for office someday like myself.” The White House podium is a considerable next step from the Miss State Fair circuit.
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When Fox News host John Roberts asked her directly how long Americans should expect high gas prices and what the president says to people who cannot afford to fill their tanks, Kelly replied:
“Well, the president has been clear-eyed all along the way on the short-term temporary disruptions that would have occurred as a result of Iran’s attempts to subvert the free flow of energy in the Strait of Hormuz. The good news is this president, just over the year and in his first term, has created a strong and resilient economy, which, as you said, will send us back to the way we were and better than we ever were before.”
She continued: “We are the largest producer of oil than anyone in the world. A lot of those tankers are buying American oil. And this economy is going to be able to bounce back better than before once this long-term volatility by a nuclear-threatening Iran is eliminated for good.”
The clip found its audience quickly.
“Anna Kelly is as insufferable as Karoline Leavitt,” one viewer wrote.
A second offered a more detailed critique: “Wow, that’s a big word salad, just to say that we are in a War with no exit plan, that’s a debacle, and Americans are paying for it at the gas pumps.”
A third dispensed with any analysis: “I did not hear an answer in all that word salad.” The phrase word salad appeared in multiple independent replies without any apparent coordination.
Inside the press corps, the response has been more complicated. Some White House reporters privately told the Daily Mail they actually prefer Kelly to Leavitt.
“Karoline has been absolutely dreadful, wrecking the credibility of the press shop by just repeating Trump’s nonsense,” one said, adding that Kelly had “always been pleasant” and would actually work to “get a quote.” The bar is a specific one but Kelly appears to be clearing it in at least one direction.
Featured image via X screengrab
