Expressing his strong lead in the polls, President Donald Trump remained largely unconcerned about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. However, he expressed his frustration when former White House Press Secretary and current Fox News host, Kayleigh McEnany, inaccurately reported polling numbers during her appearance on the network.

Despite Trump’s commanding lead of 34 points over DeSantis, and potentially even more depending on the polls considered, McEnany claimed that Trump was only ahead by 25 points. Trump pointed out that while 25 points are commendable, it falls short of the true margin of 34 points.

Trump claimed that McEnany was aware that the numbers had been corrected by the polling organization but still misrepresented them. He further criticized her and suggested that she aligned more with “RINOS” (Republicans in name only) and globalists. Trump concluded by stating that Fox News should only feature “REAL Stars!!!” In response, McEnany, now a co-host on Fox’s “Outnumbered,” emphasized the ever-changing nature of polling numbers and highlighted that DeSantis’ team claimed to have closed the gap by nine points in Iowa. However, she maintained that Trump was still significantly ahead and dismissed the idea that DeSantis was catching up as merely their argument.

To convey his discontent with Kayleigh McEnany’s actions, Trump took to Truth Social and gave her a nickname, referring to his former press secretary as Kayleigh “Milktoast” McEnany, saying:

“Kayleigh “Milktoast” McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers on FoxNews. 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. The RINOS & Globalists can have her. FoxNews should only use REAL Stars!!!”

Following Trump’s remarks, several Republicans defended McEnany against his comments on social media. Guy Benson of Fox News praised McEnany’s preparedness, relentlessness, and fearlessness in defending Trump during his 2016 campaign and serving as his chief spokesperson. He also noted her support for DeSantis, saying:

“Kayleigh was one of the only voices defending Trump on CNN when he ran in 16. I often disagreed with her, but she was prepared, relentless & unafraid of being heavily outnumbered. She then served Trump as chief spokesperson when he was president. She also likes DeSantis. This is the result.”

Filmmaker Michael Cernovich criticized the inconsistency of Trump supporters’ response, citing how they previously admired McEnany for confronting regime propagandists. He criticized those who went along with Trump’s comments, questioning their honor, saying:

“When Kayleigh McEnany was Press Secretary under Trump, MAGA loved posting videos of destroying the regime propagandists. Now she’s “milk toast.” Christina Pushaw went from BASED to traitor. This is garbage. Those of you going along with it have no honor.”

McEnany appeared on Jesse Water’s show on Tuesday night and told the host that DeSantis appears to be closing the gap on Trump in Iowa. DeSantis held a rally in Des Moines on Tuesday which is the first of many he will appear at this week.