Administration

McEnany: Prayer ‘made a lot of difference’ in 2016 election

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) that prayer played an important role in the 2016 election.

“I think prayer made a difference in this election,” McEnany, who became press secretary at the beginning of April, told CBN’s David Brody. “And that’s not to say I think God put, not to say that He puts a certain political party in a certain place at a time, but I do believe certain people are meant to be in positions at a certain moment. I do believe that President Trump is the person meant for this moment, and I think prayer made a lot of difference in the election.”

McEnany’s words echoed what former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Brody in a January 2019 interview.

“I think God calls all of us to fill different roles at different times and I think that he wanted Donald Trump to become president,” Sanders said at the time. “And that’s why he’s there, and I think he has done a tremendous job in supporting a lot of the things that people of faith really care about.”

Sanders was the longest-tenured press secretary, serving in the role for nearly two years before Stephanie Grisham became press secretary in July. Last month, Grisham was succeeded by McEnany, who was the national spokesperson for the Republican National Committee prior to becoming the president’s latest press secretary.

During her interview, McEnany also said that Trump has done a lot for the U.S. Christian community.

“I think this country needed someone to fight for life, to fight for religious liberty. And I believe that President Trump was that person, and he’s done that with the judges he’s put in place, with the Mexico City policy ensuring federal dollars don’t go to abortions, and mentioning religious liberty in his UN speech was key,” she said.