Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Entertainment

Who is White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly? She is a former beauty queen with a master’s degree in political management – and her special talent is singing

STORYIshani Sarkar
Who is White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly? Photo: @AnnaKellyGOP/X
Who is White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly? Photo: @AnnaKellyGOP/X
Icons and Influencers

Raised in the suburbs outside Washington, Kelly considers it her ‘cause’ to promote youth engagement in politics – before her White House appointment, she was part of Donald Trump’s re-election campaign

White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly, 28 – only a year older than the youngest White House press secretary, her boss, Karoline Leavitt – is spilling the beans about her prestigious workplace, Kelly being responsible for keeping its briefing room updated.
During a recent interview on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, Kelly opened up about “winning every single day” at the White House and “having so much fun” working with the US president. “It’s extremely exciting to be part of the process and really helping correct all the mistakes over the past four years,” she told the talk radio programme. Kelly also emphasised her participation in the Trump campaign, which allowed her to be a part of the “promises” made by the commander-in-chief, on which, she says, he’s delivering.

Anna Kelly calls herself an “aspiring dog influencer” on Instagram because of her love of pups. Per her LinkedIn page, she once worked as the communications director for Derrick Van Orden in the House of Representatives, after holding the same position for the Republican Party of Wisconsin in 2021 and 2022. What else do we know about her?

What is Anna Kelly’s background?

Anna Kelly (far right), seen here next to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, hails from Fairfax, Virginia. Photo: @AnnaKellyGOP/X
Anna Kelly (far right), seen here next to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, hails from Fairfax, Virginia. Photo: @AnnaKellyGOP/X
Advertisement

Kelly was raised close to Washington in Fairfax, Virginia, per The US Sun. According to the Fairfax Times, her family – father a mortgage loan officer and mother a businesswoman – are “politically outspoken”, which left a deep impression on her when she was younger. Her LinkedIn profile lists a bachelor’s degree in political science from Alabama’s Auburn University and a master’s in political management from The George Washington University in the capital.

She’s a beauty queen

Kelly has participated in several beauty pageants; in 2019 she won the title of Miss State Fair of Virginia. The cause she was advocating during the competition was “End the Apathy Epidemic: Promoting Youth Political Engagement”, said the Fairfax Times. “It is my goal as Miss State Fair of Virginia to show young people that, contrary to what they might believe, we do have a voice and it’s about time we used it,” she told the newspaper at the time. In 2022, Kelly won the Miss Madison contest in Wisconsin.

Kelly is a talented singer

Part of Kelly’s routine in beauty pageants was singing, says The US Sun. She performed Jennifer Holliday’s “I Am Changing” in a 2016 contest and in 2018 she sang Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman” at the Miss Cardinal competition.