Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Photo / Getty Images
Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Photo / Getty Images
Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has come to blows with a CNN reporter after she appeared to mock President Joe Biden on Twitter.
McEnany singled out one of Biden's comments during his town hall event on CNN, where he suggested he liked children more than people.
He made the remark while speaking to host Anderson Cooper, who was moderating the event, suggesting he would "enjoy being home with the baby more" rather than at the town hall.
McEnany singled out the comment on Twitter, writing: "Signing off with a final notable quote from Joe Biden during his town hall this evening: 'Everyone knows I love kids better than people'."
From a former WH colleague of McEnany’s: “This is 100% meant to stir up the qanon crowd. Awful.” https://t.co/jTqIRwEyKn
Her tweet drew swift backlash, with many believing her post was a nod to QAnon, a far-right conspiracy group that claim the Democrats are a Satanic paedophile ring.
CNN's Jake Tapper responded to the tweet, telling his followers that a former White House colleague of McEnany's told him her comment was "100 per cent meant to stir up the QAnon crowd".
One of Mike Pence's former aides also condemned McEnany's tweet, labelling her comments "dangerous" and "pathetic".
"This is pathetic even for @kayleighmcenany standards," she wrote.
"It's also dangerous given the conspiracy theories the #Trump movement has led, but you know that already Kayleigh and you don't care."
However, the former Trump press secretary denied her tweet was a reference to the QAnon community, telling Tapper his source should put their name on the record if they want to make those kinds of claims.
"I tweeted this revealing, bizarre quote from Joe Biden that underscores his horrific pro-choice, anti-child policies that have dehumanised life (Mexico City policy etc.)" she wrote.
"cc: @jaketapper your source should put her name on the record if she claims to know the intent of my tweets."
Despite McEnany's clarification, it seemed that many people in the QAnon conspiracy saw her comment as a show of support.
"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," one person wrote on a major QAnon message board, according to Vice.
Another user branded McEnany's tweet as "pretty significant".
"It shows that this is something the higher-ups are conscious of and take seriously; the belief is not just isolated to the realm of us common folk," the user wrote.
Another said: "Pretty awesome that when the media is trying to laugh at us for believing the pedo stuff, that Kayleigh backed us up by calling this out."
Those who believe the depraved QAnon theory have been labelled by the FBI as "conspiracy theory-driven domestic terrorists".
Jacob Anthony Chansley, 33, was arrested shortly after the attack after being pictured wearing a horned headdress and holding a spear during the deadly rampage. Photo / AP
Self-proclaimed QAnon believers were among those who participated in the violent riots at the US Captiol on January 6, which resulted in five deaths, including a police officer.
One of the accused rioters, whose picture was widely circulated during the storming of the Capitol, was dubbed the QAnon Shaman.
Jacob Anthony Chansley, 33, also known as Jake Angeli, was arrested shortly after the attack after being pictured wearing a horned headdress and holding a spear during the deadly rampage.
In an interview, which resurfaced following the riot, Chansley claimed he had powers to fight paedophiles in other "dimensions".
"As a shaman, I am like a multidimensional or hyper-dimensional being, OK," he said during an event in Arizona last year.
He said he could "see into these other higher dimensions that these entities – these paedophiles, these rapists, these really high up people … that they almost hide in the shadows in".
