Former ESPN reporter Britt McHenry has joined the Trump administration as a press advisor to the State Department under Secretary Marco Rubio, capping a career pivot from sports television to conservative media to government service.
McHenry, 40, announced the appointment Wednesday on social media, posting a photo of herself beside the official seal in the White House Press Briefing Room. On X, she called the State Department "our country's highest diplomatic institution" and said she was proud to work alongside "some truly incredible people."
The role places a veteran on-camera journalist inside the nation's top diplomatic agency at a moment when the administration's foreign-policy messaging matters as much as its substance. McHenry will work under Rubio, whom she praised in a LinkedIn post as a "fellow Floridian" whose political career she has followed "from its inception."
McHenry spent three years as a Washington, D.C., based reporter for ESPN before the network let her go in 2017 during a sweeping round of layoffs. Two years earlier, ESPN had suspended her after security footage surfaced of her berating a towing-company clerk in Arlington, Virginia. She later said she had "allowed my emotions to get the best of me."
After ESPN, McHenry moved toward right-wing political commentary. She made appearances on Fox News Media and Fox 5 DC and co-hosted a Fox Nation show called Un-PC.
That chapter ended in litigation. In 2019, McHenry filed a sexual harassment lawsuit in a New York district court naming Fox News, her co-host George "Tyrus" Murdoch, a former WWE wrestler, and Fox Nation executive Jennifer Rauchet as defendants. McHenry alleged Tyrus had sent her sexually explicit text messages for months in 2018 while they worked together on the show. She also alleged Rauchet told her she was "replaceable" after she raised concerns.
Tyrus denied the allegations. Both parties voluntarily dismissed the case in 2021 after reaching a confidential settlement. McHenry told The Daily Beast at the time that she was "very proud to have stood up for my rights" and hoped she had "empowered other women to do the same." Fox News Media said it was "confident it would have prevailed" but was "pleased" to resolve the matter without further litigation. Tom Clare, an attorney for Tyrus, said his client was "pleased that the parties have reached a settlement in which the claims against him will be dismissed with prejudice."
On LinkedIn, McHenry cast the appointment as a logical extension of her broadcast career rather than a break from it:
"For 17 years, I have worked on camera covering the news. Now, I get to take that experience and apply it to our country's highest diplomatic agency."
She added that she had "followed and admired Secretary Marco Rubio's political career from its inception to the outstanding leadership he shows today in the Administration. He has appointed an exceptional staff, and I look forward to serving them and our nation."
The State Department has not publicly detailed the scope of the press-advisor role or whether the position required any formal vetting process beyond the administration's own appointment authority. McHenry's exact start date has not been disclosed, though her LinkedIn post referred to starting "this new chapter today."
Washington rewards people who can take a hit, land on their feet, and stay in the arena. McHenry has done all three, and now she gets to do it on behalf of the country.
