Ainsley Earhardt
Ainsley Earhardt | |
---|---|
Born | Spartanburg, South Carolina, U.S. | September 20, 1976
Education | Florida State University University of South Carolina (BA) |
Occupation(s) | Television news anchor and correspondent |
Years active | 2000–present |
Employer | Fox Entertainment Group |
Spouse |
Kevin McKinney
(m. 2005; div. 2009) |
Children | 1 |
Ainsley Earhardt (born September 20, 1976) is an American Fox News television personality and author. She is the co-host of Fox & Friends.
Early life
Earhardt grew up in North and South Carolina. Born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, as a young child her family moved to the Foxcroft area of Charlotte, North Carolina. She attended Sharon Elementary School. Earhardt's family moved to the Columbia, South Carolina, area when she was still in elementary school. Earhardt graduated from Spring Valley High School in 1995.[1]
After high school, she attended Florida State University (FSU), majoring in biology. She then transferred to the University of South Carolina where she graduated with a bachelor of arts degree (B.A.) in Journalism.[2]
Career
Earhardt was hired as a reporter for WLTX-News 19, the local CBS station in Columbia, South Carolina, before she graduated from USC. [3] From 2000 to 2004 she worked as the morning and noon anchor. She traveled to New York City after the September 11 attacks to cover South Carolina middle school students' raising nearly half a million dollars for firefighters to buy a new fire truck to replace one lost at the World Trade Center site.[4]
In 2005, Earhardt moved to San Antonio, Texas, and anchored weekday newscasts of KENS-TV Eyewitness News This Morning (5:00–7:30 a.m.) and Eyewitness News at Noon.[3][5] While living in Texas, she completed the Austin, Texas half-marathon, went skydiving with the U.S. Army's Golden Knights and, at the Air Force Academy, flew in an F-16 with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.[4]
Earhardt has written two children's books, Take Heart, My Child and Through Your Eyes, and a memoir, The Light Within Me.[6]
Fox News
She moved to New York City and began at Fox News Channel in 2007.[4] Earhardt has stated that she "did not know the first thing about politics" before she was hired by Roger Ailes to work at Fox News.[3] She is the co-host of Fox & Friends. She has appeared on Hannity with her own segment called "Ainsley Across America". Since joining the network, she has also co-hosted Fox and Friends Weekend, Fox's All-American New Year's Eve, America's News Headquarters, been a panelist on The Live Desk and appeared on Greg Gutfeld's Red Eye.
She has stated that she is a fair journalist who wants "to ask tough questions" and "does not want to come across as being in the tank for" the Trump administration.[3] During her tenure on the show Fox & Friends, Trump tweeted about the show more than 100 times in the first eight months of his presidency.[3]
She has interviewed President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.[7] During a 2018 interview with, she praised Trump for threatening having audio recordings of former FBI Director James Comey, stating it "was a smart way to make sure he stayed honest" in Congressional hearings.[8][3][9][10][11] Shortly prior to the interview, Trump had withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement; Earhardt asked him about this, "Why did President Obama — why did his administration think this agreement was okay for America?"[8] In a previous interview with Mike Pence, she described the climate agreement as "unfair" to the United States.[3] Earhardt defended Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, saying "he gets to decide who works for him. Someone who works for him who is not supportive of him, he gets rid of them."[12] Amid the Trump administration's negotiations with the Kim Jong Un, Fox & Friends ran North Korean images of Kim Jong Un touring industry in his country; Earhardt described the images as "very romantic".[13] In 2017, she falsely claimed that "5.7 million... illegal immigrants might have voted" in the 2008 election.[14]
In May 2019, after The New York Times documented Trump's "deep financial distress" between 1985 and 1994, which included losing more money than almost any other American taxpayer, Earhardt praised Trump, saying “it's pretty impressive, all the things that he's done in his life. It's beyond what most of us could ever achieve."[15][16][17] She also criticized "the liberal media", saying that Republicans will not run for office anymore "because they know the liberal media is going to take them down."[17] In October 2018, after The New York Times documented how Trump obtained nearly half a billion dollars from his father through "dubious tax schemes" and possibly tax fraud, Earhardt accused the Times of "bashing his dad".[18]
According to Business Insider, "few subjects animate her more than stories about alleged attacks on Christianity."[3] When a Missouri Sheriff's Department was criticized for putting "In God We Trust" decals on their squad cars, Earhardt defended the sheriff's department, asking "What about the majority? I'm so tired of protecting the rights of the minority. What about the rest of the country?"[3]
Personal life
Earhardt's first marriage to Kevin McKinney in April 2005 ended in divorce in 2009. In October 2012, Earhardt married former Clemson University quarterback Will Proctor.[19][20][21] They have one child.[22][23] After six years of marriage, Proctor filed for divorce in October 2018 after Earhardt announced their separation amid allegations that he had been unfaithful.[24] Earhardt is a Christian.[25][26]
See also
References
- ^ "Ainsley Earhardt, Class of 1995 - Spring Valley High School". Classmates.com. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ "Outstanding Young Alumni Award". My Carolina Alumni Association. University of South Carolina. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
2007 - Ainsley Earhardt, '99 BA
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Relman, Eliza (October 8, 2017). "How Fox's 'southern gal' Ainsley Earhardt became the darling of 'the most powerful TV show in America'". Business Insider. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ^ a b c "Ainsley Earhardt". FOXNews.com. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
- ^ Santaella, Tony (September 27, 2007). "Former News19 Anchor Ainsley Earhardt Drops By". WLTX. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ Browder, Jenna (April 3, 2018). "'Fox and Friends' Host Ainsley Earhardt: 'I Love Jesus and I Can't Hide That'". CBN News. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
- ^ Gearan, Anne; Ellison, Sarah (August 28, 2018). "How Trump's television diet has become a to-do list for aides". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 11, 2019 – via The Boston Globe.
- ^ a b Wemple, Erik (October 9, 2017). "Trump propagandist on 'Fox & Friends' speaks: 'I want to be a journalist'". The Washington Post.
- ^ Memoli, Michael A. (June 23, 2017). "In tweet, Trump promotes appearance on 'Fox & Friends'". Hartford Courant. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ^ Nelson, Louis (June 23, 2017). "Trump on Comey tapes: 'My story didn't change'". Politico. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ^ Wilstein, Matt (June 23, 2017). "'Fox & Friends' Host Tells Trump He Was 'Smart' to Threaten Comey with Tapes". Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ^ Chang, Alvin (August 7, 2017). "We analyzed 17 months of Fox & Friends transcripts. It's far weirder than state-run media". Vox. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ^ Levine, Jon (August 9, 2018). "'Fox & Friends' Praises Kim Jong Un: 'He's Quite the Romantic'". TheWrap. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ^ Sherman, Amy (June 22, 2017). "Following Trump voter fraud allegations, claim that 5.7 million noncitizens voted is wrong". PolitiFact. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ^ Galioto, Katie (May 8, 2019). "'Fox & Friends' hosts defend Trump's massive losses as sign of 'impressive' business chops". Politico. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ^ Wise, Justin (May 8, 2019). "'Fox & Friends' host: Report Trump had $1 billion in losses shows how much he can 'achieve'". TheHill. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ^ a b Iati, Marisa (May 8, 2019). "Fox & Friends: Trump's financial loss isn't bad news. It's proof of his 'impressive' success". The Washington Post.
- ^ Rupar, Aaron (May 8, 2019). "Fox & Friends wants you to think Trump losing $1 billion is impressive". Vox. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ^ Dean, Janice (September 27, 2012). "Ainsley's Bridal Shower!". Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ "Ainsley's Bridal Registry". Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ "Ainsley Earhardt". Retrieved April 14, 2017.
- ^ "We are absolutely thrilled to welcome our new baby girl, Hayden, into this world. My husband and I are overjoyed!!". Twitter.com. September 3, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
- ^ "We love her so much already. Welcome to this world, Hayden Ramis Dubose Proctor". Twitter.com. September 3, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
- ^ "'Fox and Friends' co-host Ainsley Earhardt's husband files for divorce". Page Six. October 10, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
- ^ "Ainsley Earhardt: I Asked God to Come into my Life and Change Me". Todd Starnes. April 25, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- ^ Olsen, Alex (April 3, 2018). "Fox News Host Opens Up About Christianity, Jesus in Powerful Interview". Faith Family America.