Former President Donald Trump took to social media Tuesday to attack his former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, accusing her of misrepresenting poll numbers during an appearance on Fox News.
“Kayleigh ‘Milktoast’ McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers on Fox News. I am 34 points up on DeSanctimonious, not 25 up. While 25 is great, it’s not 34. She knew the number was corrected upwards by the group that did the poll,” Trump wrote, before concluding, “The RINOS & Globalists can have her. FoxNews should only use REAL Stars!!!”
Wow. pic.twitter.com/hVinjwbecc
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 31, 2023
The criticism came after McEnany, who is now a co-host of Fox News’ “Outnumbered,” claimed that polling in Iowa showed Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis was “closing the gap” with voters on Trump after announcing his plan to run for the White House in 2024, according to The Hill.
Though Trump did not specify to which poll he was referring during his criticism, a poll conducted between April 27 and April 30 by Donald Trump’s pollster showed Trump commanding a 54% sway with Iowa voters compared to DeSantis’ 20%. That number tracks with a poll, also conducted in April by Victory Insights, which showed the former President earning 54% of the vote, with DeSantis coming in second at 24%. With Donald Trump off the ballot, the same poll showed DeSantis leading the field with 59%. (RELATED: Kayleigh McEnany Reveals How DeSantis Can Beat Trump In 2024 Primary)
Trump’s reference to “milk toast” appears to be a misspelling of the word “milquetoast” – meaning a timid or feeble person. It’s not clear why Trump would use that term in describing McEnany, who often commanded the podium during her stint as press secretary, but the term was echoed by Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy on Fox’s “The Ingraham Angle” later.
While filling in for the Fox News host Laura Ingraham, McEnany asked Roy about his opposition to the debt ceiling deal, charging him with offering up a “realistic alternative.” In response, Roy seemed to reference Trump’s earlier attack on McEnany stating, “Everything that we’re seeing out of… this deal hatched this weekend is pretty milquetoast, if that word might mean something to you,” Roy stated.