Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 395 | Kayleigh McEnany Impresses Phil, and Phil's Synonyms for Trump Are Antonyms for Biden

Episode Date: December 12, 2021

Phil shares the notes he jotted down about Donald Trump. Jase recalls the time he was kicked out of Trump International Hotel in New York. Al and guest Kayleigh McEnany discuss what it was like to work for Trump. Kayleigh gives poignant advice to university students about holding on to the truth and impresses Phil when she quotes Esther 4:13 in her book. Jase invites Kayleigh and her husband, Sean Gilmartin, to come duck hunting. Kayleigh reveals the story of meeting Sean in New York due to his camouflage clothing. And Al defends her husband's wardrobe, considering the cost of camouflage apparel! Check out Kayleigh's book, “For Such a Time as This: My Faith Journey through the White House and Beyond,” at http://KayleighBook.com  Read the first chapter of "Uncanceled" by Phil Robertson now: https://philrobertson.substack.com/p/uncanceled-chapter-one The ONLY place to get "Your Daily Phil" by Phil Robertson in time to start off your new year: https://talkshop.live/watch/QID3D1y77yHJ  - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So we are super excited today on the Unashamed podcast to welcome our special guest, Kaylee McAnney. Hello, Kaylee, and welcome to Unashame. Welcome. Hey, it's an honor to join you guys. I was listening to your podcast when I was out in Wyoming, and I just love every second. My husband's an avid listener, and I really enjoy it. So it's an honor.

So we, I told you in an email. that you will raise the IQ of this setting by several points. We don't even know what it'll be. We call ourselves C-plus gospel men. She could be the most intelligent person we've ever interacted with. I think that's right. I think that's a fair assessment. So that's how highly we think of you, Kaylee.

That is a high honor. However, I'm probably bringing down the common sense IQ because they're not one and the same. So. All right off the bat, because I read your book, by the way, which is excellent. Thank you. For such a time as this. For such a time as this. Kaylee and the pink, because she's rocking the pink.

It was very, very good. So right off the back, because you mentioned your husband before he came on air. So I want you to tell a little bit about him. And I know that he's a major league pitcher from the book. And I read that. But I love the way that you guys met. And I think Jason, Dad, because they don't. know this information, but the very first time you noticed him and kind of what drew you to him,

I think that would fit in with this group very well. So would you tell that story? Yes. So I was living in Manhattan, which I don't like Manhattan at all in Manhattan right now. And I was having hard times meeting down-to-earth guys like my dad, who's a hunter and outdoorsman and was an athlete. And so I see this guy in Cammo on Twitter. And I'm like, who wears Cammo in Manhattan. I've never seen anyone in Camus. So I found out he's a major league baseball player for the Mets. I was the one who messaged him, found out he's obsessed with hunting. I mean, literally obsessed in duck hunting in particular. And we fell in love. I took him to a southern restaurant, Southern restaurant in New York called Southern Hospitality by Justin Timberlake. It's the best I could

find. And yeah, we hit it off. I got shrimp in my hair and the rest was history. I guess I could think So what about that? Cammo attractive. I say somewhere back in her past, she came from very good stock. Well, the last time I was in New York wearing camo, I was escorted out of the Trump Hotel because I was mistakenly a vagrant. So, yeah, that's true. True story.

I'll just take that up with my former boss. well he he he made restitution so everything yeah they reached out to jace and felt bad about it what happened although the guy i mean none of us out against the guy because i mean you see us kaley look at this group i mean you could easily be mistaken you get the hair tuss you know you get the the wrong clothing and homelessness is just right there i mean jase asked where the rest where the restroom was i did and some guy escorted him from the bill Well, he grabbed my elbow, and I knew right then, why is he? What was that show we went on and you announced what I'm up?

Well, I shouldn't have done that. If I'd have had a press secretary who could have advised me. Kaylee could have totally fixed that situation. Because I thought they wanted to do a story on the Michael Strayhan. At that time, he had a show with. It was Michael and Kelly or Kelly and Michael or something like that. And they were like, well, how's New York? And I said, well, I just got kicked out of the Trump Hotel.

I probably shouldn't announce that there because then it was embarrassing. This is pre-presidential campaign, and we were there promoting Duck Dynasty. Right, because it was to deal with the show. I thought it was funny, but it kind of went viral, so then they reached out to me, and they were like, we're firing this guy. And I was like, well, don't fire him. He was doing his job. If you didn't know who I was.

Chase, I wouldn't let you hang around my house if I had know you were my son. And they were real professional about it. Hey, what are you doing, I'll tell you. So, Kaylee, the next time we came to, the Trump and we went back we love the Trump it's our favorite place to stay so when we went back they showed us that they had pictures of all the guys behind the counter to make sure we didn't get run out anymore oh my gosh that's true it's like full-on camo had to toe oh yeah I did and I was having a bad hair year and it just went spiraled out I mentioned this yesterday you've been

you've worked for the man I met him about three three times pointed him to me Jesus said Jesus is the way. Make sure you get that all right, Trump. And so we talked, you know, same age, same age. So I wrote this down literally in my Bible because people were, yeah, yeah, yeah, about Donald Trump. I wrote down definition of Trump, acumen, keenness and quickness in understanding and dealing with a situation. Shrewdness, mental acuteness. I wrote it down and I said,

I'm going to vote for this dude because in here. But a lot of them, they couldn't get past, especially women, his personality, his demeanor. They thought he was a little too caustic. But for me, I said, man, we lost a great man. Look at what he accomplished in a short period of time and this month we now have.

I mean, it is pathetic, pathetic. Yeah. It truly is. And look, we're all imperfect. You know, you're sinless cast the first stone. I mean, look at some of the greatest figures in the Bible who altered the course of history like Moses and David. And we're all imperfect. So, I mean, you want to point fingers. There are many fingers pointing right back at you. I mean, Peter is saying to Jesus, you're not going to die. You're not going to die for the sins of the world. Remember? And so, you know, hey, but I just want to let you know. If someone came to you and they asked you about Donald Trump, I just gave you what I thought, think about him. I didn't, I overlooked any kind of character flaws. I didn't care about little stuff like that. His attitude, cost a little caustic around the edges.

I said, look, I looked at the man's policies. Pro God, pro-gun, pro-life. I'm like, and look at us now. Yeah, that's right. I love the way you, acuteness and the words you wrote down. Those are synonyms of Trump, but they're antonyms of Joe Biden. That is correct. Sorry, that guys got none of that.

That's right. So, Kaylee, in the book, since we're talking about Trump, you talked a lot about personal action. Obviously, you talked to him every day when you were working for him multiple times, dealing with, you know, everything you guys were dealing with with the country. But you presented a picture of him, of warmth, I'd say professionalism, of the way he handled himself, tell our audience a little bit about what it was like to interact with him as close as you did for that time you were in the White House.

Yes, well, look, he of course expected everyone in the White House to operate at a very high level. You know, I write in the book about, you know, the angriest I had seen him was the day after St. John's church burned. You remember the church that was set on fire by the rioters right across from the White House? And he had a right to be angry that day. But, you know, there were those incidences where he just demanded more and better for the

country. But beyond that, generally speaking, this man was fun to be around. He always got you laughing. When you went into the Oval, you couldn't help but leave with a smile on your face if you were doing a good job. And you got that chance to interact with him on a personal or a friend basis. And he cared a lot about family. I mean, I'll never forget I was taking off of Marine 1 to Air Force One with him one Saturday night. And he looked at me and he goes, why are you here?

And I said, what do you mean? Why am I here? I'm your press secretary. And he said, no, you should be with your husband. where's your husband? What's he doing? And I said, well, he might be pitching in a baseball game. And he said to me, well, then you should definitely not be here. And all night, he kept asking about my husband, is he pitching? And as we're landing after the rally, he said to me, Haley, next time, go be with your husband, be with your daughter. And by the way, go to my private dining room,

kick up your feet and watch your husband pitch, which I did not do. But it told me a lot about Trump. You know, he's a family guy. Yeah, I loved all your stuff that you said about that. So your husband is a hunter and your dad as well, right? I mean, you grew up kind of with that whole genre, and that's what I read about in the book. So what was it that who was drawn first of the podcast? Did Sean find it or did you find out unashamed first? How did that come about? Sean found it.

And you're right. First of all, my dad was a deer hunter, and Sean was deer hunting a lot. And he still does. But now he has an undying obsession with duck hunting. He has his bird dog. He was just in Missouri, Arkansas, all across the country with his black lab. And he loves you guys. I love you guys.

I mean, I watched you on Duck Dynasty, but he listened to the Unashamed podcast. And he loves how you guys know the Bible and you weave in your faith and your Bible verses. And, you know, Phil, you just showed me what you wrote in your Bible. He loves that. And so he put it on for me when we were out in Wyoming. We had a long car ride. And I go, wow, these guys are the real deal. Down to Earth, fun.

You know, I got to know you all in a way more intimately than in. even in Duck Dynasty. Well, that's awesome. And we're excited that you're, we've been fans of yours as too, too. So I think that's mutual. You mentioned about a spiritual that what I loved about your book was how spiritual it was. And I wrote down some of the different verses and I wanted to ask you some questions about that.

One was, Proverbs 2717, you said, as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. And then you told a lot about your childhood, kind of growing up as a Christian, but also growing up, obviously, almost being led into politics and to doing what you're doing because you had a passion for it early. And I totally connected with you because you talked about growing up, listening to Rush Limbaugh. I was the same way, a little bit older for me in my 20s, but I loved Rush. And like it just sparked in me that, you know, wanting to be engaged and to be involved. Tell us a little bit about what that was like and what that does. dive in for you was like, because now you're, you know, you've been in politics, now you're in

media as well. I mean, those are murky, you know, waters in terms of from our perspective. What's that been like for a Christian girl from Florida, you know, to kind of dive into those waters? Yeah, it's a great question. You got to rely on your faith a lot, I will say. You know, I grew up and my dad always said, you know, what is your worldview? And my family, our worldview is, I'm conservative. You're right. I listen to Rush Limbaugh, riding in my dad's truck from Planned City, Florida to Tampa. I grew up in Planned City. And my spiritual worldview, I'm a Jesus Christ loving Christian who grew up in the pews of my Southern Baptist Church. And, you know, I had this very firmly sewn in worldview when I went out to Harvard and Oxford in these left-wing institutions.

And, you know, I say iron sharpens iron because you're challenged on a daily basis in politics and media too by people who don't necessarily have your worldview. And it made me better. It makes better day to day. But yeah, I got to rely on Jesus and my roots a whole lot because it's a different world out there. There's a lot of snakes in the swamp in D.C. There's no doubt about that. And you have to run them out sometimes. So what would you give, what advice would you give our listeners? Because I think one of the greatest fears that any Christian family has, especially in the flyover states, people that really love us in the South, they're so fearful about their kids going to a university now. And I get it. I mean, it's a scary place. But you did it.

I mean, you went in there, you had a mindset. What advice would you give them in helping prep, you know, their kids to be able to make their way in the world and yet not, you know, relent on their faith or, you know, their core beliefs? Yeah, well, number one, you know, never forget the truth. And the truth is Jesus Christ is Lord. Don't ever let anyone convince you otherwise because there are, you will encounter atheists and people who aren't believers. But the fruits always tell the story, the fruits of the tree. And if you look at the Christians across the country and the good they've done, I think that tells you a lot. But never forget truth. And then when you go to your university and share truth, do so with kindness,

gentleness, and compassion. You know, I went on the CNN sets where it was eight on one, liberal. I was the one conservative. And sometimes you wanted to stand up and just, you know, shout out. You know, you're wrong. But I didn't do that because a wise former mentor of mine, Alan Kholm said to me, never fight fire with fire, fight fire with water. And that was the best stuff. advice he could ever give. So on the sets of CNN or in the White House press briefing room, you know, I knew be truthful, share my, share truth, but do so with gentleness, kindness, and compassion. And if you can do those two things in the university setting, it'll take you far. Yeah, I love what you talked about when you were at Oxford about how you were challenged

in those mentor settings. And yet it made you a better person. So that was such a great view. And I also love that you talked about some people that I recognize that are on the left that you have and had a good relationship with. And, how we're kind of losing that, right? Now it's almost kind of scorched earth when it comes to media. It seems to be moving more of that direction instead of being able to just discuss and have a difference of opinion. And no doubt. And I write about Van Jones. Al and Combs, too, he was a leftist. He was Hannity and Combs. They were the two counterparts. But Van Jones, you know, Obama's green energies are. I'll never forget when I went to CNN and I rounded the

corner to the green room. That's like the holding room, you guys know. But for listeners, there's the holding room before you go on television. And Van Jones shouted out, we'd never met, I love your cross. And all night, he was so kind to me. He pointed out when I had food in my teeth and gave me his little mirror so I could get it out and coached me through being on set. And, you know, there's something I recognized in Van Jones, and it was a common Christian faith. And I wish, you know, we could have more interactions like that across the aisle because

it's a shame. There's something so much bigger than party and country and it's Christ. That's right. Let's take a break. Jayce, you had a, what was your question? So yesterday on the podcast, Chase was practicing a question for you. Do you remember what it was? He wanted to make a dry rum because he didn't want to embarrass himself.

I had to do some research. I'm the least active person on watching politics and TV. So I asked my wife, I was like, we're having someone on that was Trump's press secretary, and she immediately named you. And look, she'd, she'd live. listed five things immediately about you, which, and she was very impressed, and she's not easily impressed, as you can see, she married me. But she said, well, I'll tell you this, she's modest, she's classy, she's very smart, articulate. She said, but the thing I've noticed most, because

when you saw that about the cross, she said, she always wears a cross. And my wife does too. she always wears a cross. She said she's unashamed of her faith. So she's going to fit in right nicely in the podcast. And so after hearing you talk, I will agree. But I forgot what I was going to ask. What was I going to ask? I don't know.

You said you were practicing yesterday because you're... I was practicing, but I can't remember what it was. Oh, what a dunderhead. Let me look. I probably wrote it down. So humbled by your wife's words. That's so nice. And yeah, I love when I see ladies who wear their cross.

There's a lot of them. when I get speeches and it's great to see. When the election ended and I heard the banner, you know, Mary, you know, I was counting the votes. I'm sitting there listening to all that. I was pretty active for Trump. I'm not in, I don't do politics, you know. We present Jesus, him crucified and rage from the dead.

So spiritual fixes is what we look for instead of political fixes. But now I have not. not turned on. I don't have a computer. I've never owned a cell phone. Or I'm oblivious. Or watch. Or watch.

He don't know what time it is. I'm oblivious to time of day and that. So I keep things simple and it's just trouble to me. But you're going to have to help me out because I have interacted even just turning on a talk show, some CNN, Fox News. I haven't watched television except for Matt Dillon. It's an old western. I mean, I quit listening because Kayla, look, the more I heard and I tried it first.

And I would see Joe Biden and I would listen to what he was saying. I think that's what I was going to say, Phil. I became sickened by the whole process, the political process. You're going to have to help me out. I don't know about these guys. Well, that's what I was going to say, Phil, yesterday. How do we become, because there's a tendency to become disinterested and, you know, give us something to feel. It's so vile.

I can't watch it anymore, Kayla. Give us some optimism. Yeah, well, a lot of optimism heading to next November. I mean, the Democrats have the slimmest majority they've ever had in the House for any modern president. And we're going to have a tsunami, a red wave, I believe. But look, the stakes are too high not to be engaged. Jace, I don't blame you. I'm someone who's always engaged.

And because there are people that do it for a living, you don't have to subject yourself to kind of the unhappiness of the political process each and every day. But the stakes are so high. And particularly the one issue that matters to me more than any issue in politics, the one that is just I've been passionate about since I was a young girl, is the issue of life. And the fact that Roe v. Wade,

we're even talking about overturning Roe v. Wade, potentially is only made possible because we elected a Republican president, a Republican Senate, who put on three conservative Supreme Court justices. I mean, 62 million kids in this country have lost their life to the scourge of abortion. And that could change. And it could change because we all showed up on that day in November of 2016 and elected the right guy. So how are we going to know or can we count on this vote counting fiasco? Because when I saw all that, I said, it's so corrupt. I don't even. know whether we can have an honest election anymore. So help me out here. Yeah, you know,

COVID-19, unfortunately, presented an opportunity for, you know, the rules to kind of be changed, like in Wisconsin, if you were indefinitely confined, that usually was a very high standard. But if you feared COVID, you could just stay home and vote and not show your ID. And we've got to have safeguards in place. But the encouraging thing is Republican legislatures have been passing new laws to signature have signature match and voter identification, the Georgia law. You saw the Georgia law and sure. They lost the MLB game because of that, but that law is a great example of the kind of voter integrity we need. So you still have hope that through the political process, we can get the right people like Donald Trump in that. I do. I absolutely do. And I think I've watched what's going on

across the country, Texas, Georgia. Publican legislators are stepping up being bold and making sure we have integrity. We've got to have it. Have to. Well, we all, we still have faith in Jesus. You and I both, we both have our faith in Jesus, but you have at least given me a little more hope in government. Yeah, usually I'm the float of this trio here, Kaylee, because I'm still engaged and watched to let these guys know what's going on. But I'm with you. You spend a lot of time in the book talking about, I think you called the October surprise or maybe it was a September surprise. I wanted the two whenever Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away.

And then all of a sudden, right here in the middle of an election, you got an opportunity, President Trump has an opportunity to put a justice in. And so, you know, Amy Komi-Varck came in and you talk a lot about that process. And just what you mentioned a minute ago, what that means to life, how important was that to you? But also kind of what was that like going through that, like, frantic pace of trying to, at this, campaign, you know, later you dealt with COVID, but in the middle of this to all of a sudden put a Supreme Court justice on the bench. Oh, it was, we were blindsided. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, obviously not someone whose judicial philosophy I agreed with, but she was a lion of the court

left a great legacy of integrity and intellect, though I didn't agree with her. But she passes away and it's this mad scramble first to tell the president of the United States, because he's on a rally stage, giving a rally. People were literally shouting out that she had done. guide. What I know, he didn't hear any of those folks shouting out, but we had to inform him of this. It was a huge scramble. And then to try to get the right person in, and he picked the right person in Amy Coney Barrett. I mean, you'll remember if you watched any of her confirmation hearings, they asked her to hold up her notes, and she held it up, and it was blank. You know, she was just such a smart woman. The diametric opposite of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, philosophically,

but whip smart, and she sailed through because how could you approach? post someone that's, you know, got it together like that. Yeah, it was, it was really neat. I loved reading about that. So I want to mention, uh, that is an interesting point because the Supreme Court, at least they're supposed to be stanch conservatives. Well, yeah, of the Constitution. The right, the right number of them.

Right, right. And strict constitutional, that's what you want. Because if you, if you stick with the Constitution, you're going to wind up on the right side. That helps a little. Right. Do you still carry your constitution around? Yeah.

Okay. I mean, I'm... We have one here on set most of the time. I mean, I'm just seeing America and what it's turning to and all the corruption and just the... Their story reminds me of Phil when he was speaking and he was like he would look down and you think he's using notes in about three, fours through a sermon. He held up his notepad. There was nothing on it. He was like ACP.

He was a lot of life. Depravity has gone main. and I'm just looking saying, when are we going to wake up? I mean, I know it's difficult for the human race, but it looks like to me, love God and love your neighbor. I just don't see the downside at all. Exactly. Exactly.

No, you're exactly right. There are some reports out about Kamala Harris mistreating her staff for, I guess, decades. And I'm like, just love those and be nice to people, especially. those who work for you. Especially those who sign up because they believe in you. So go back to basic biblical principles. You know, I told you the story

about me getting escorted out of the Trump Hotel. And, you know, when I went back, they invited me to one of their golf courses, I think, in New Jersey. They said, we'll take care of you. But I had lunch, how I met the Trump's, with

Don Trump Jr. and his brother, Eric, and we spent the whole time talking about because they knew I had a daughter who was born with a cliff, lip, and palate, and they were major supporters to kids with the same issue. And so, really, I tell that story. I was like, you know, it started off with a mistaken identity and a mishap, but we came together for our love for kids who had special needs, which we developed a friendship, and then we had hunting in common also. Of course, this is way before they were running for president, but it just seemed weird at that point that I thought, well, this is life.

And when you meet people in such a way as that, and you have that love as something that's binding you together, you know, then when you try to explain that, I have a relationship with these people and it had nothing to do with TV shows or policies in that moment, which is why I supported them fully. Well, and all that was way before you had any idea that Donald Trump would be president, right? And then later on you have that question.

Well, the most, the funny thing that happened through that was we took, who was the guy, Phil took duck hunting? He was running. Oh, Cruz. He took Cruz duck hunting, which I had, I didn't know anything about it. And so Donald Trump Jr. sends me a text and was like, what's up with your dad? He was like, he's taking duck hunting. hunting the guy we're running against. He said, I'll be there tomorrow.

So he came down and duck hunting. He did. That's a good story. Feels like, Tell Cruz, I'm going with Trump. Well, especially because Don Jr. was a way better hunter. Let's take another break. He was a way better hunter, too. So, so, as Canada, I want to ask you because we don't have a lot of time left with you.

So you quote, the name of your book for such a time as this is a quote from Esther 413. and, you know, the story of Esther, which is amazing because she was in a position that she didn't really plan to be, but then she had a moment to step into a role and she did it. And so in the book, you describe what it was like to get that opportunity. And what was amazing was, the reason I respect you so much is because you had just started a family, you know, I mean, you've gotten married, you were going to have, you know, at some point you were going to have a baby. and yet you're thrust into the press secretary for, you know, one of the most controversial presidents ever in terms of, you know, he has people that hate him and love him so much.

So what was that like for you and what gave you the ability to step into that role? Because you had a lot going on at the same time. And yet you did it with grace, as Missy said. And so what was that like for you to step into a role like that in the position in life that you were? Well, it was a tremendous honor. You know, when I got the job, I told the president, it's the honor of a lifetime. And it certainly was professionally, but you're exactly right.

I had a five-month-old daughter. You know, I was married, living down in Florida, though I had a place in D.C. because I was working on the campaign. But I had a lot of anxiety as a new mom, leaving my daughter behind in Florida during COVID-19 outbreak and having to go up to the swamp, start this new job. So there were a lot of tears involved leaving her. I was worried if I'd be able to communicate with the American people during this, you know, global outbreak of COVID-19. And then my dad texted me and he said, Kaley, maybe you were made

quote for such a time as this. And you're exactly right, a reference to the book of Esther. And then separately, and I believe sometimes, you know, people say, how do you know God is real? Well, when you get a message like that, and then three weeks later, four weeks later, I get a message from a liberal at CNN, Van Jones, Kaylee, maybe you were made for such a time as this, to people sending the same message. It was like God trying to beat me over the head with something. He does often. I have many experiences like that in life. And, you know, Esther has changed human history.

And, you know, I'm not suggesting what I did is in any way as significant as what she did. But I do believe that message was meant for us all to hear. We're all here in a certain time and place and a certain part of the country and a profession with a family for such a time as this. And God has a purpose. And he had one for me and he has one for everyone, everyone listening. I know that to be true. Yep. Yeah, I love that.

I thought that was really powerful. And the last verse I wanted to mention that you mentioned in the book is Philippians 413. I can do all of this through him who gives me strength. And you chronicle that a lot, you know, in terms of not just working in the White House, but really your whole life. But here's something. I want you to tell the story about it really intrigued me. I know Jason will love it about the worship service that you went to with the president

when you were in Nevada. I think you were in Las Vegas. And you talked about worship and you talked about the impact it had on you in that day. Tell that story. I think our audience will love that in terms of in a moment of such pressure, how worship meant, you know, so much to you. Tell that story. Yeah, it was quite something because, look, when the president got COVID-19,

it was in October, there was, you could just feel good and evil in the White House. It was ironic to me that the day that they had the super spreader event in the Rose Garden for Amy Coney-Barrant, you know, evil was at work in that Rose Garden. there was also good in the White House at the same time because Franklin Graham had visited a number of other high-profile pastors. So there was really this kind of good and evil battle playing out. COVID-19 ended up affecting Trump, myself, Hope Hicks, others in the White House. And so it was kind of a tumultuous time, was really worried about the president. But on the backside of us all recovering from COVID, we go to Las Vegas. We go to the International Church of Las Vegas.

And I go to church with my parents and my husband and my daughter, but never with the president of the United States. So it was super cool to walk in and hear these songs that I've heard my whole life. You know, I'll move the mountains and just hear these lyrics. And they just started really moving me and affecting me to I started tearing up. I was trying to shield my tears from the press as I'm standing by the president and Scovino and Hope Hicks. And then I heard a new song. It's called New Wine. And it's about the crushing and the pressing of the grapes and this really tough process resulting in this beautiful product of wine. And the crushing and the pressing happened for a reason because God has a beautiful design on the other end. And to stand next to the

president as, you know, this whole evangelical church is singing, it was definitely one of the high points of the presidency for me and my time there. That's cool. I knew you like that, Jace, because Jase always talks about worship and its impact at any moment about how it affects you, which is powerful. I think I just remembered your question. You were going to ask her about how do you connect rednecks? That's what I was going to. No, I was just impressed with, now here's, you know, Donald Trump from New York, and he wants the votes of the flyover states. And the only two groups of people, which really is kind of the same group they cross over,

who you can offend and they don't care are the redneck world and the church Christian world. Right. I mean, people just dump all over us. Right. And we read Matthew 5 and say, okay, I mean, we just take it, which is okay. But what he did that was smart was he made everything into bumper sticker statements. You know, build the wall. I mean, what are some others?

Wrong. Drain the swamp. Drain the swamp. You know, everybody. Cut your taxes. So he found a way to articulate and connect with the redneck world just by, which is really what you do as a press secretary. there, right? You take all the gibberish and just make a bumper sticker out of it. They won me over. Yeah, and walk out there and bam. There it is. I have a pretty hard head,

but they got me. Well, I just wanted to know the first time you walked out, was there a moment of like, I'm really fixed to do this? I mean, what went through your mind? Because I know the first time, because you're classy and professional, very smart, but I mean, there had to be like, okay, here we go. I mean, was there a prayer? Oh, yes, there were many. I had prepared more than you think it's possible to prepare late into the night, but I woke up in the morning. I listened to a Joyce Meyer sermon about having faith over fear,

and I listened to Christian music, and I tweeted out, actually, Philippians 413, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And a former press secretary, Sarah Sanders, sent me advice, and one of the pieces of advice she sent me was, most importantly, pray. And she sent me a picture of her Jesus calling from exactly two years, prior to my first briefing, and it talked about not having time to worry. But I had a lot of time to worry.

In fact, I was crying in my office when I was supposed to be at the podium. I was so nervous. And so my assistant runs in and goes, you can't be crying in here. And she put my parents on speaker phone and we prayed together. I went to the West Wing bathroom and I got on my knees and I prayed myself. Went in and I saw the president and Vice President Pence. And Pence went like this to me and said, I've been praying for you. I love the verse you posted.

And when I went to the podium, I went from crying in my first. my office to being at the podium and just had a total and complete serenity. And it wasn't because of my preparation. It was because Christians were praying across the country. I hear it. Even this morning, my friend Ainsley Earhart said, you know, I was praying for you before your first briefing. I didn't know that. But millions of Christians praying for the whole administration. I can tell you we felt it and I certainly did. Let's take another break. So you mentioned to Mark Meadows being a believer, chief of staff for President Trump. And I didn't know that until you talk about it in the book, but even he was a source of inspiration, right? Because I always had those positive words

about Christ and about, you know, your faith. That's right. Yeah. You know, I, it's, God knows where you're at and what you're struggling with. And he puts people in the right place, I believe, believers to send you messages or give you that encouragement. Mark Meadows certainly was that, a man of great faith. And, you know, I was standing outside of the president's oval office. And I forget what I was struggling with that day or what, what the issue was. But, you know, he comes in and randomly starts talking about divine timing because the president's assistant had walked out to her moments after a tree fell on it. And he talked about God protecting her from that incident. And he talked about meeting his wife. And when he went to go take the SAT and how he had designed for them to

meet. And he gave this whole kind of soliloquy about divine timing. And I just really resonated with me that day. And then Pence walked in and here we are standing outside of the most powerful office in the world and having these Christians share these messages. is no doubt about it. Mark Fettis, I'm glad you brought that up, was a great man of faith. I love that. You know, it was when we were invited to the inauguration, so now, if you're going along the timeline, kicked out of the Trump Hotel, we patched everything, then I got an invite to the inauguration. Yeah.

Wow. And I got invited to a party that was not a party, which was crazy. That's a long story. But anyway, I got to ride to the inauguration with the family. of the pences right which so I knew just the spirit in in the bus from a from a godly perspective was amazing and awesome and will be a cherished memory but I'm inspired hearing how your faith walked you through all these situations because it reminded me you know when I I go around and speak I tell people right off the

bat in my speech my two greatest fears are flying and public speaking and now I fly all over the world and speak. Now, whenever I address this sister here after hearing her speak and watched her on television, I was watching her when the switch came, and I said to Ms. Kay, I said, that girl has nerves of steel. Nerves of steel. I said, she's not going to budge. Well, it's one thing when you go into a room of jackals, you better be ready.

So in our last few minutes here, Kenny, I wanted you to tell us what, tell our audience what you're doing now in terms of media. And then also tell us a little bit about your family, about baby Blake and Sean and kind of how things are going with them. Yeah, so I'm at Fox News now. I co-host the 12 p.m. show outnumbered. We have a fun show with Emily Campanio, Harris Faulkner, great group of women. So it's fun to be here at Fox.

And yeah, my daughter, Baby Blake, just turned two, which is absolutely crazy, how fast the time goes. I know every parent says that. but I'm realizing it's true more and more each day. My husband, I'm trying to, you know, it's duck season, so I don't see him much every weekend. He's off somewhere. You know, and it's, but that's where we are. So I have a great family, great mom, great dad, sister, brother,

and I've just been very blessed with an amazing family unit and my little daughter. Well, I want to offer an invitation for your husband to come duck hunting with us. You can come and hang out or hunt whichever. You can come and eat it, Ms. Kay's. We'll get your people with our people. But I wanted to leave you with this verse because listening to you talk, I thought about this verse has been inspiration to me,

but 1st Peter 315, it seems like you embody this. But it says, but in your heart set apart Christ as Lord, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who ask you to give the reason for the hopes that you have to do this with gentleness and respect. So we appreciate your attitude and that's first beat of 315. That's a great verse, Jace.

Keep wearing that camo to Trump Tower, please, by the way. Yeah, now that they got a picture of it's still a lot. Yeah, pass along our best to your family, to your folks. I know you guys have used to watch the show, and it's really neat to connect at this level, and I appreciate your folks reaching out for our audience for such a time as this. When does the book release, and where can folks get it? So it releases Tuesday, December 7th, so it's out on Shell.

You can get at Barnes & Noble, Kayleebook.com, if you want to sign copy. But, yeah, and wherever books are sold. And it's been a real honor to be on with you guys. And thank you for just your very public testament to your faith. It's an inspiration to a lot of people, including myself. And I look up to you guys. It's great to be here.

And I want to take you up on that duck hunt offer. All right. It's going to happen. I've got your info. So we're going to connect on that and make it happen. Kaley McEnany, everybody. Thank you, Kelly, for being here today. Thanks so much for having me.

is happy about his time that was that was I was impressed with her yeah I knew you would be she's she's amazing and I mean I just knew from her describing it in the book but also she you know I mean like she had to what she faced every day we didn't get into that but the news media and of course they hated Trump so and she's representative of the president so you're trying to you know answer questions her answers I remember remember she was she did not budge I mean she's she was she did her research and she did not bud there's so many questions you know you don't have so much time but I wanted to ask but one of them was I've never seen a press secretary do this but she would come in and she started every briefing and she talks about the book with a positive story about some American somewhere in other words there was so much negativity all the time yeah especially during Trump years, that she decided she was going to tell a positive story about a normal American at the beginning of every press briefing. And I never even heard of anything like that. And I thought,

well, that tells you a lot about her right there. I mean, her deal was is, look, we don't have to just focus on the negative all the time. Sometimes we can talk about the positive. And that was one of things. Jason, you were talking about inspiration. I mean, that was one of the inspirational things that I thought about her. Because, you know, of course, she would go through her thing. And then as soon as she would finish, it would just be right, you know, just right into the thing. I liked her, rancher when she said, just bring forth the truth. Yeah. Yeah.

Share the truth. Yeah. Yeah, she put that as number one. I like that. Yes, sir. Yeah. Well, you know, they asked her, I read somewhere, they asked her, are you ever going to lie? You know, the left asked you that because they wanted her on record saying, I'll never lie.

Because she's obviously a person who is trying to tell the truth. So then they would come up with scenario. of circumstances and say yeah but you said this thought you said you were never going to lie yeah like when it was a lie we this is what we were trying to do i mean it may not have worked out in the end but it just it just shows you how divisive i mean you have two sides and they're basically spinning every situation just a however their count believes the view one represents the evil one and one represents Jesus Christ. And when that's the point of...

Well, that's the best case scenario. Yeah. Well, and then that was one thing. She mentioned all the people around her. And I knew that Pence was a believer, but, you know, in strong, but I didn't know about Meadows. And she mentions other people, too. And so it gave me a lot of hope that just because people are in politics,

because we kind of tend to say, ah, where they're all corrupt and it's all about. But God does have people. She didn't mention like Trump trying to make a comeback. She didn't mention that. No, and I didn't want to ask her because, you know, she can't say, even if she knew she wouldn't be able to tell us. But, I mean, Trump hadn't said yet. But he's going to, that.

Well, that would have been, yeah, that wouldn't have been a fair. But you know he's going to do it. He's going to, I mean, I don't have any doubt that he's going to. But I like this woman. You know, it made me think of. Well, she'll probably be back in the thing again, you know. It made me think, you know, kind of like how the chosen. has brought out with Jesus' followers and those going around.

There were key women there who were, you know, foundations for Jesus' ministry and how he went along. And I just thought, man, here's this woman. I mean, pretty young with this responsibility. And then when you hear how her faith, I got goosebumps. A couple times when she was talking about for such a time as this. and, you know, crying and praying and praying and then just stepping up there and just having the courage.

I thought, man, what a godly, what a godly woman here. There is hope. But it was always with her, because she talks a lot about her childhood, it was all from the early days. She said she would be on her way to cheerleading practice. And, you know, she's just a teenager. And so whoever she's riding with, they had to turn it on Rush Limbaugh. She's a teenage girl.

She's like, no, we're listening to Rush, you know, on the way back and forth. And I thought, you know, she was convicted even way back then of what she wanted to do. But look, she went to Oxford University for a year in London. She describes that. And then she went to Harvard Law School and graduated from there. So I was telling you all, I mean, she's intelligence, you know, off the chain. But she's very grounded and real. And that's having it from our discussion.

I mean, she could fit right in with us and respects us for what we're doing here on Unashamed, which is pretty amazing. And you don't think you impact. We're thinking of it like we're only talking to rednecks out there. We're talking to everybody. Surprising. Exactly. Which is surprising in a good way. But didn't you love the way she has the scriptures as her guide in the book and the idea of iron sharpening iron for such a time as this?

I can do all things. I mean, that's what grounds people into living every day. So you're right, Jess. I think when you see people who are in positions of things that affect everybody's life, have the same basic faith as you and trust and Christ, that's, that, that goes a long way. You know, and she also, the first thing she said, she's like, you know, we all make mistakes. And it's just, you just don't hear people acknowledge, because in the political world, they have that on their side as an attack, because we all do make mistakes.

Right. So they're just trying to find what yours are. Yep. Because they're there. Right. We all have our flaws. But it's, it's how you handle them. It's how you respond to them.

And I don't know, I was just impressed for a lot of different reasons. But when she started off saying, look, we all make mistakes. And I'm not going to basically apologize for my faith. That's right. And that was my anchor throughout this whole process. That's the gist of what I got. And I thought y'all would both like when she first met her husband. Because I laughed out loud when I was reading it.

I mean, she's like, okay, you know, she spent all this time preparing herself. Now she's in New York, she's doing media. She's like, you know, I really want to settle down. I want to marry someone. And she sees a guy in Cammo in New York. Yeah. You know, and she's like, you know, this might be a guy. This might be a guy.

I need to talk to. He stood out. He stood out. And she knew as bold enough to wear it because most people, you know, be afraid, you know, to kind of. Yeah, that's why I told her my story. It was kind of a sad story, you know. But you would think, you know, I actually made that point to the guy who escorted me out later when I got back in because I saw him later.

It was like, my clothes are these camo. They're not cheap. Yeah. I mean, you look and say, oh, there's some vagrant wearing, you know, a bunch of camo fatigues. It's expensive. Do the math. Do some research. Oh, you remember that time we did the, we did the, I don't know if dad was there.

We did a, I think dad was there. We did a cost comparison. Randy Kirby, who's a stockbroker, was wearing a super nice suit. And, you know, the shoes, the tie, we went through the whole thing. So we went through the net value of that. And then dad was wearing, you know, full underarmor, camo, a coat, you know, everything that goes with that.

And we did a cost comparison, and dad was dressed way more expensive than the fine suit, the fine shoes, the fine tie, all that stuff. Well, I mean, chess waiters, which you have to have. Right. So they know that. It's kind of like you have to shoot steel shot when you shoot dogs. So guess what? Steel shot is expensive.

Yeah. They just said, well, double it. I think if I'm not mistaken, mistaken, dad's wardrobe was around three grand, and Kirby's was about 1,500. So it was like double, you know, because this high-end camo is expensive. So the argument that I was not dressed properly, that didn't. You were actually- Not according to money. That's what gets me just so upset about church people who put, they say, well, you have to look a certain way.

Now, they'll come up with that, you know, we were with a guy who didn't have the wedding clothes on. That's the one they anchor on, but I think they missed the point there. Yeah, I think. You know, I'm going to bring up in Samuel where it says, man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. I mean, that's, I think that trumps every. But that's the joke of it is that it's even more expensive than people have any idea. Well, that's my point. I get up.

You know, I'm talking about the chosen. Dallas Gee can send me a text one day. He's like, what are you doing or something? Well, I was literally fixed to get up and speak. Or I was up there. I can't remember. I think I took a picture of me. while I was up there of me on the screen and I sent it to him.

During my speech. And his was, because I thought he would think, well, how did you do that while you were speaking? And what did he send back? He said, I'm glad you dressed up for the occasion. Because I have my cameo on. And I'm like, that's what you got out of that. So after the speech, I went and looked up the verse in First Samuel and was looked. And it's like, yeah, God looks at the heart.

you're looking at the extort because it was a Sunday morning. So you sent that back to him? Yeah. What did he say? Oh, it sparked quite the debate comically. But I was like, he was just, he was actually shocked that I spoke at a church on Sunday morning wearing camo. And I had that shirt that had the arms cut off. And so he was like, yeah.

And then he did the same thing my wife did early on. was like, why would you cut out the arms? I was like, well, that was an emergency number two session in the woods. I said, for a while, I only had one sleeve. You were really working at you. Another emergency brought some chemistry to it. All right, we're out of time, but we'll give me an update. We get to go, we get shown down here to hunt.

We'll tell you how they are when we meet them in person too. My wife would be excited. Yeah, that'll be fun. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed. podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes and don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube and be sure to click that little bell to get notified about new episodes. And for even more content that you won't get anywhere else, subscribe to blazed TV at blaztv.com slash unashamed.