Kayleigh McEnany: Brains, Beauty, and Backbone
Written by Emma Foley
Photography by Bethany Miller
With 60 seconds to go before showtime, Kayleigh McEnany eyes the camera, convicted and composed. She’s absorbed all the major stories and relevant reporting that’s broken in the last 48 hours. Armed with an arsenal of facts and figures, McEnany goes live on Saturday in America— her new weekend show with Fox News— looking sleek in a black Veronica Beard suit and an Alice + Olivia blouse.
Between segments, she relays her smart media instincts to the control room: “New reporting this morning— this is definitely a story to follow.” Each break is spent wisely— to collect, regroup, and prepare for the next topic.
She’s self-sufficient on set, even offering to do her own lipstick touch ups. But she readily pours out appreciation for her all-star team that makes the show seamlessly come together. The Conservateur witnessed all the magic and memorable moments in an exclusive behind-the-scenes visit at Fox News’ headquarters in New York City.
“Good call, swapping in that story,” she praises the producers. “Great job, whoever made that graphic… Thank you, guys, for putting together all those elements…” Her laser-focus does not diminish her gratitude.
Hosted by one of the greatest media dynamos of our time as well as an outspoken Christian, devoted wife, and mother to three, Saturday in America is a culturally resonant and strategic addition to Fox News’s weekend programming.
The Making of Saturday in America
Preparation for Saturday in America begins the Tuesday prior, when McEnany’s team begins parsing through stories, digging for angles yet to be discussed and guests yet to be spotlighted.
Coordinating producer Jake Lindenman sends McEnany emails “from the roof to the ground,” teeming with innovative angles and elements. Senior producer Jenna LaMagna, well-versed in breaking news, will let the team know exactly how drastically Friday’s headlines will alter the lineup. McEnany is a hands-on host, ensuring each story is carefully examined and every comment is thoughtfully delivered.
Given the tense political environment and anxiety felt by younger generations, McEnany engages with important stakeholders and people of influence in our politics even if they lean progressive. So far, she has welcomed Democratic strategist James Carville, Democratic senator John Fetterman, and Democratic former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for polite political discourse, rare in this divided era.
With over a decade of experience in media, McEnany has mastered her craft of connecting with her audience. But her performance wasn’t always pristine, she tells The Conservateur, and she credits three people for their help with perfecting it: Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt, her mother Leanne, and… Ken.
During a summer in college when McEnany was interning with Fox, Earhardt— then working an overnight shift— would set up the teleprompter for McEnany to practice reading. “She was so good at reading the prompter, and I was really terrible at it at the time,” McEnany recalled.
McEnany’s mother, who doubles as her political fashion consultant as well as her closest confidante, offered invaluable advice: “Envision someone behind the teleprompter that you so desperately want to provide information to. Put into your mind that one person.”
For McEnany, that one person was a high school friend’s dad, a Republican voter who was always eager to speak with her about politics. “Ken was his name,” she revealed. “I envisioned his face behind the screen, and it kind of changed things for me.”
Now for McEnany, the prompter is old hat. Most impressive, however, is her knack for extemporaneous speech and debate— skills she honed studying abroad at Oxford, earning her J.D. at Harvard Law School, and, of course, serving as President Trump’s White House Press Secretary. To her interviews, monologues, and ad libs, McEnany brings the same energy and exactitude she brought to pandemic press briefings, along with the instincts that once filled that famous formidable binder.
And despite his demanding schedule, President Trump still reaches out from time to time. He congratulated McEnany after the launch of Saturday in America. More recently, he phoned from Air Force One, unfazed by the incessant jingle of her children’s new Build-a-Bear playing in the background.
Exclusive Look: In the Lab
Up in Fox’s headquarters on Manhattan’s Avenue of the Americas, just past Greg Gutfeld’s and Jesse Watters’s production teams, is McEnany’s personal office, filled with memorabilia from a truly incredible journey.
Inside, tokens from her time in the White House decorate the wall opposite her desk. The scent of Nest’s Birchwood Pine candle fills the room. It’s the same candle they used to light at the White House around Christmastime, McEnany shares, making the space extra nostalgic.
At her desk, McEnany is surrounded by the tools and touchstones of her life. She shows us her legendary large pen collection (she matches her pen color to her outfit daily). Tucked into the corner of her desktop are photos of her husband and young children. The greatest focal point of the room is a wall covered in her children’s art creations, an explosion of color and imagination.
The gallery’s little artists understand that between Fox and Friends and Outnumbered, Mommy’s job is “on the TV screen.” Then, for anything after The Five, the two oldest love to help set up McEnany’s home studio. Three-year-old Nash asks to be picked up to pull the camera out and turn on the lights, and six-year-old Blake will sit in the chair to announce, “Hi, this is Blake. I’m calling for Jesse Watters.”
God Knows the Desires of Your Heart
“The best thing you’ll ever do is having kids,” she said.
McEnany glows brightest when she speaks about her three children, who she raises with her husband Sean to know and love Jesus and to live out kindness. McEnany beams, too, when she recounts starting her family at a moment that maybe seemed contradictory and unconventional: when her career started to take off.
McEnany had just accepted the job as Trump’s national campaign press secretary in 2019. The culture said: It’s not the time to try to have a child. How’s it going to work? You’re on a campaign, you have to go to Iowa, New Hampshire...
“But sometimes you have to go with your heart over your head,” McEnany concluded. “I knew God had that desire in my heart. And Blake came, like, immediately.”
To the young women who question whether they can truly have it all— a fulfilling career and a present motherhood— McEnany confidently speaks from experience:
“You can. You’ll find a way. Just let God lead you.”
McEnany adds that a support system is important and that there will be people who chip in to help. She often brought newborn Blake with her on the campaign trail in early 2020, and her parents were always a phone call away. “It’s always a beautiful thing to bring a new life into the world,” she emphasized. “Always.”
After careful consideration, McEnany determined there is one thing about her journey— working in media, through Harvard Law, on the campaign trail, in marriage, to the White House press podium, and raising three “happy, high-energy kids”— that she would go back in time to change.
“I would have worried less,” she said.
“All of the worry over finding a husband and career— God had it all worked out. ‘I’ve got this,’ is what He was trying to say to me.”
Bringing Christianity to Cable News
Kayleigh McEnany’s conservative commentary has brought both Outnumbered and Saturday in America to the top of cable news ratings. Still, central to her being is not politics, but faith. McEnany still wears the same cross necklace that she was known for in the James S. Brady briefing room. She searches for opportunities to teach Blake, Nash, and smiley six-month-old Avery Grace about forgiveness, prayer, and salvation through Christ.
When it comes to the “bad” news stories, McEnany does her best to shield her young children from the worst of humanity. 2025 brought moments that shook the conservative movement and rattled even the most seasoned media veterans. In such moments, McEnany offers a silent prayer— “God, get me through this”— before she’s live on-air, delivering difficult news. Her faith in the Lord steadies her through even the most harrowing news cycles.
“When you put news in the department it belongs in— which is a temporal place that is not eternal— and your worldview is an eternal one, it’s not easy, but it makes it manageable,” McEnany explained. “At the end of the day, there will be justice. And as a Christian, we pray with a forgiving heart that these perpetrators do ultimately find their hope in Christ.”
Fox has been unwaveringly supportive of McEnany’s faith, trusting her with total discretion over the tone and style of Saturday in America— something she does not take for granted. “To be this free to express your faith, your core being, on national television, is very, very unique to this company. Fox let me spread my wings and soar and create.”
Saturday in America hosted by Kayleigh McEnany airs Saturday mornings from 10 AM to 12 PM ET on Fox News Channel.
Emma Foley is a Content Manager at National Review in New York City. Originally from Pennsylvania, Emma earned a degree in Marketing and Theology from Boston College. You can follow her @emmafoleymedia.
Bethany Miller is Managing Editor of The Conservateur. A South Asian American writer and photographer, her work delivers classy conservative commentary on the conversations of our time. You can find her on Instagram and X @bethanyymmiller.
