CNN anchor Jake Tapper found himself in a tiff with former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday morning after Tapper tweeted a quote from an unnamed former White House colleague that called McEnany out for an alleged QAnon dog-whistle following President Biden’s town hall the night before.
On Wednesday morning, McEnany appeared to boost the debunked QAnon conspiracy theory by taking aim at Biden for saying “everyone knows I love kids better than people” during a CNN town hall the night before. Biden’s quote was issued at the beginning of the town hall when he congratulated CNN’s Anderson Cooper for his newborn child.
The far-right conspiracy theory baselessly alleges that cannibalistic pedophiles run a global child sex-trafficking ring and plotted against then-President Trump while in office.
Signing off with a final notable quote from Joe Biden during his town hall this evening:
“Everyone knows I love kids better than people.” ?
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) February 17, 2021
The next morning, Tapper tweeted a quote from an unnamed former White House colleague of McEnany, which accused the former White House press secretary of “stirring up the QAnon crowd” with her tweet scrutinizing Biden’s well wishes to Cooper.
From a former WH colleague of McEnany’s: “This is 100% meant to stir up the qanon crowd. Awful.” https://t.co/jTqIRwEyKn
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 17, 2021
McEnany took offense to Tapper tweeting out the unnamed White House staffer’s quote. McEnany insisted that the quote she tweeted speaks to Biden’s supposedly “horrific pro-choice, anti-child policies.”
I tweeted a revealing, bizarre quote from Joe Biden that underscores his horrific pro-choice, anti-child policies that have dehumanized life (Mexico City policy etc.)
cc: @jaketapper your source should put her name on the record if she claims to know the intent of my tweets https://t.co/eexkRUWAPQ
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) February 17, 2021
Tapper has yet to respond to McEnany, but he has retweeted journalists who pointed out that QAnon followers are reveling in the former White House press secretary’s bogus conspiracy dog whistle attacking Biden.
Multiple QAnon influencers & a major QAnon forum are hyping Kayleigh McEnany's tweet suggesting something nefarious about Biden and children. https://t.co/KSzSy2jo6G pic.twitter.com/GwKycjmqyt
— Alex Kaplan (@AlKapDC) February 17, 2021
On another QAnon forum:
"McEnany is one of the most dangerously intelligent individuals I’ve ever seen at a podium. I’m just glad she is on our side. We’d be screwed if she were a baddie. God bless her."
— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) February 17, 2021
Tapper also retweeted former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA), who railed against McEnany for “choosing to be relevant to the crazy and violent.”
It will take massive and multiple doses of facts based digital antibiotics to cure Q sickness. Kayleigh needed relevance and to increase her twitter and media interactions…Choosing to be relevant to the crazy and violent seems to be a moneymaker https://t.co/DtihQOuTf9
— Denver Riggleman (@RepRiggleman) February 17, 2021
McEnany’s apparent QAnon dog whistle comes amid growing concerns of QAnon’s influence in the Republican Party, following backlash over Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) recently resurfaced remarks that included musing over the execution of Democratic lawmakers. Greene has bragged about having former President Trump’s support even after her inflammatory remarks drew backlash, which caused the House to strip her of her committee assignments.
