Kayleigh McEnany shares mastectomy story during RNC

Kayleigh McEnany.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

During her Republican National Convention speech on Wednesday night, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany shared that when she was 21, her doctor let her know that she had tested positive for the BRCA2 gene mutation, giving her a much higher risk of developing breast cancer.

McEnany said her mother also tested positive for the mutation, and chose to have a preventative double mastectomy. In 2018, McEnany decided to do the same, and said this almost completely eliminated her chance of breast cancer. Shortly after her surgery, at what she described as being one of her "most difficult times," one of the first calls she received was from Ivanka Trump. Soon after, President Trump was on the line.

"I was blown away," McEnany said. "Here was the leader of the free world caring about my circumstance. At the time, I had only met President Trump on a few occasions, but now I know him well and I can tell you that this president stands by Americans with pre-existing conditions."

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The Trump administration is now suing to overturn the Affordable Care Act, which makes it so health insurance companies cannot refuse to cover a person because of pre-existing conditions. He has not shared any plan to replace it.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.