Former White House Press Secretary and Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany is criticizing the misplaced priorities of national media coverage.
McEnany argued that news organizations devote enormous resources to symbolic controversies while giving comparatively little attention to issues that have directly affected American families.
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McEnany’s comments came amid an ongoing media frenzy surrounding President Donald Trump’s renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a project that has become the latest flashpoint in Washington’s culture wars.
Earlier this year, Trump announced plans to restore the aging reflecting pool, calling the landmark “filthy” and pledging to transform it into what he described as a cleaner, more visually striking national monument.
The project includes a new blue coating that Trump has referred to as “American flag blue.”
“You’re going to end up with a beautiful, beautiful reflecting pool, the way it’s supposed to be,” Trump told reporters. “Much better than it ever was, actually.”
The renovation, estimated to cost roughly $1.5 million, has generated fierce opposition from preservation groups, environmental activists, and many in the media.
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One preservation organization filed a lawsuit seeking to block the project, arguing that the redesigned pool fundamentally alters the historic character of the Lincoln Memorial grounds.
“The vivid blue coating will fundamentally alter the visual and experiential character of the pool,” the group argued in court filings.
The controversy has generated extensive national coverage, including repeated segments on cable news networks and long-form reporting examining everything from the project’s aesthetics to algae removal efforts associated with the renovation.
For McEnany, however, the reaction highlights what she views as a larger pattern in American journalism.
“This is par for the course for the media,” she said during a recent television appearance.
McEnany contrasted the attention being paid to the reflecting pool with what she described as limited national focus on issues involving crime, public safety, and illegal immigration.
She pointed to East Palestine, Ohio, where residents faced environmental concerns following a major train derailment, arguing that media attention there was far less sustained than the coverage currently being devoted to the reflecting pool dispute.
She also referenced violent crime cases that received brief national attention before fading from headlines.
Among the examples McEnany cited was the death of Iryna Zarutska, who was fatally stabbed aboard a train in North Carolina.
“Where was their extensive deep-dive coverage into the city’s soft-on-crime policies?” McEnany asked.
She further criticized what she sees as insufficient attention given to families who lost loved ones in crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
“And what about angel families who have lost loved ones to vicious criminal illegal aliens that the Biden administration let in?” she asked.
“Are we to believe that their stories are less important than algae in a pool that no one swims in?”
Critics of the media argue that Americans are often presented with endless coverage of cultural flashpoints while stories affecting public safety, economic stability, and community well-being receive far less sustained attention.
“Where was their extensive deep-dive coverage into the city’s soft on crime policies?”
“And what about angel families who have lost loved ones to vicious criminal illegal aliens that the Biden administration let in.”
“Are we to believe that their stories are less important than… pic.twitter.com/RiU1SqKiWF
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 20, 2026
To McEnany, the larger issue is not the color of the water.
The real story is what receives national attention and what does not.
At a time when many Americans remain concerned about violent crime, illegal immigration, economic pressures, and public safety, McEnany says the media’s obsession with algae, landscaping, and opposing Trump reveals a disconnect between newsroom priorities and the concerns of ordinary citizens.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
