Fox News has named former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany co-host of its afternoon news/talk series Outnumbered beginning April 6.

McEnany will join Outnumbered founding anchor Harris Faulkner and co-host Emily Compagno on the series, which features a series of rotating panelists discussing the issues of the day, according to the network. McEnany, who joined Fox News as an on-air commentator earlier this month, served as press secretary in President Trump’s administration and worked for Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign as its national press secretary. 

Read also: Emily Compagno Named Co-Host of Fox News Channel's 'Outnumbered'

McEnany also served as national spokesperson for the Republican National Committee. She also worked as a political analyst for CNN where she provided commentary surrounding the 2016 presidential election. 

McEnany began her career in media as an intern at Fox News, where she later became a production assistant before attending Harvard Law School.

“Kayleigh’s unique background in politics and law coupled with her experiences confronting women's health challenges and life as a new mom will add robust insight to Outnumbered — we are delighted to welcome her back to Fox News where she began her media career,” said Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott in a statement. 

McEnany added, “I am thrilled to join the incredible women of Outnumbered and look forward to working alongside the talented Harris Faulkner and Emily Compagno as we discuss the top issues impacting the country.”

Read also: Fox News Revamps Daytime Lineup

The McEnany announcement follows the network's hiring of former President Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump as an on-air contributor. 

Fox News Channel has been dominating the cable ratings charts in 2020, and few of the network’s anchors have been more dominant in their time slots than Harris Faulkner, who hosts daily news shows Outnumbered and Outnumbered Overtime from her New Jersey home. The 15-year Fox News veteran’s Outnumbered Overtime, in particular, has outperformed both its broadcast and cable competition in the 1-2 p.m. slot since last July, averaging more than 1.7 million viewers. Faulkner has also hosted several town hall specials over the past few months, focusing on such topics as education and mental health.

Faulkner spoke with Multichannel News about the success of both Outnumbered and Outnumbered Overtime, as well as the challenges of delivering live, daily programming amid the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s an edited transcript.

MCN: Is it harder to do your shows at home than from the Fox News studios?

Harris Faulkner: Right now, it doesn’t matter where you are — you are [at home] with millions of other people and there is no escaping it. I’m constantly on the line with my producers, so there’s really no delineation between home and work.

MCN: Have you experienced technical difficulties at home?

HF: I have never seen technology at work like what’s going on here. We’re capable of doing so much that I’m amazed; I can talk to anyone, anywhere. The viewers also get it — it doesn’t have to be perfect, and that’s a good thing. [Two weeks ago] I was interviewing [House] Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and we were getting into it. I asked my big question but couldn’t hear the answer. At that point I had to make a decision — I had him stand by while we broke for a commercial. We came back and we had fixed it, but to go off the air so suddenly like that was certainly different. It’s been pretty impressive that that’s the only major technical glitch that we’ve had.

MCN: Outnumbered Overtime is dominating its timeslot. What has been the secret sauce of the show’s success?

HF: Part of it is relevance. Before [COVID-19] was a pandemic, we were trying to get our arms around this and I tried to be relevant from the get-go. I have always pitched to the audience breaking news and being straight with people with a smile — there’s no reason why you have to be caustic and unapproachable. I do think that people know I won’t tolerate misinformation or stuff that they can’t use. So I think it’s the combination of that approach, along with having a good barometer of which way the wind is blowing.

MCN: You’ve broadened out the series by developing Town Hall specials exploring current event topics. How do those specials build the Outnumbered Overtime brand?

HF: Sometimes what people get from the news can feel like a lecture, and that’s OK when you need information. What I’m trying to provide is an edification environment for people that doesn’t feel overbearing. I think context, perspective and action planning are really important -- town halls can do that for you. 

MCN: Are you surprised by the strong performance of cable news during a time when people are looking for more escapist entertainment programming?

HF: I think it’s more important than it ever has been. There are some incidents that grab us in big numbers on television, like the Super Bowl, and other things that have unified us as a country, like 9/11. I’m not saying that there haven’t been other huge times in our history and there will be others, but for this era there’s nothing that really compares to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has destroyed economies like wildfire, and so in this environment the category of news is relevant. As long as people still feel like having knowledge is power in their lives, they will watch news right now. 

Kirsten Powers has joined CNN as a political analyst.

Powers joins the cable new network from Fox News Channel, where she also had been an analyst, weighing in on the election and debates for daytime and primetime programming.

She is a former political appointee in the Clinton Administration and was public affairs deputy assistant U.S. Trade Representative.

Powers joined Fox News Channel in 2004 and had been a panelist on FNC's Outnumbered. She will continue as a contributor to USA Today.

Fox News Channel, which has utilized the format in the 5 p.m. hour, will launch a new one-hour weekday panel show, entitled Outnumbered in the noon hour later this month.

Beginning on April 28, Outnumbered, featuring an ensemble of four female panelists and one rotating male, will address top new headlines from all angles and perspectives. During each segment, the panelists will examine the top news of the hour, and deliberate the leading pop culture and relationship issues dominating the headlines that day.

Fox Report Weekend anchor Harris Faulkner and Fox Business Network’s Sandra Smith will serve as two of the rotating members who will lead the program’s news coverage. The solo male panelist will vary each day, sometimes serving as a notable figure in the national dialogue that week. Additional personalities to be featured include: co-hosts of The Five, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Andrea Tantaros along with FNC contributors Jedediah Bila, Katie Pavlich and Kirsten Powers. Each of the panelists will retain their respective roles on FNC and FBN.

In conjunction with the show’s debut, Happening Now, co-anchored by Jon Scott and Jenna Lee, will split into a pair of flanking one-hour news at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

America’s News Headquarters, hosted by Bill Hemmer, will remain in the 1 p.m. hour -- the time slot it has occupied temporarily since September -- until Outnumbered's arrival.

FNC presents The Five weekdays at 5 p.m.

"Outnumbered combines a distinctive group of Fox talent with unique experiences and insights that will make for compelling news programming,” said Jay Wallace, senior vice president of news.  “We look forward to once again pushing the envelope with the addition of this new show and are confident the revised line-up will only strengthen the FNC brand."