'A Warning Shot': Maggie Haberman Explains Why Trump Attacked Kayleigh McEnany

New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman said Donald Trump’s outburst about Kayleigh McEnany, his former White House press secretary, served as a warning to all his right-wing allies.

“It’s a warning shot to anybody else who might be around him or who was once around him and is seen as having cred with the right and with the MAGA movement for saying anything that’s based in fact that he doesn’t like,” Haberman told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in a clip posted by Mediaite. “That’s all that is.”

Following his victory over Nikki Haley in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primaries, the former president hit out at McEnany over some commentary she’d given on Fox News.

“I don’t need any advice from RINO Kayleigh McEnany on Fox,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform late on Tuesday, using an acronym for “Republican in name only.”

“Just had a GIANT VICTORY over a badly failing candidate, ‘Birdbrain,’ and she’s telling me what I can do better. Save your advice for Nikki!” he added.

McEnany, now a Fox News host, had offered Trump some compliment-laden advice during the network’s primary analysis. She suggested he should think ahead to the general election and recognize that there is a segment of Republican and independent voters that he has not captured.

“President Trump, I would go home tonight, I’d go to my victory party, I would celebrate, I’ve made history yet again. But then I’d go home and I’d look under the hood,” she said.

Support HuffPost

The Stakes Have Never Been Higher

At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is