Katrina Pierson

Katrina Lanette Pierson (née Shaddix;[1] born (1976-07-20)July 20, 1976[lower-alpha 1]) is an American Tea Party activist and communications consultant. She was the national spokesperson for the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign.

Katrina Pierson
Personal details
Born
Katrina Lanette Shaddix

(1976-07-20) July 20, 1976
Kansas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican Party (United States)
Children1
EducationKilgore College
University of Texas, Dallas (BS)

Early life

Pierson was born in Kansas[2] to a white mother and a black father.[3] Her mother gave birth to her at 15[1] and initially gave her up for adoption, but changed her mind.[3] She grew up with her single mother, in poverty.[3]

In 1997, at 20, Pierson was arrested for shoplifting, to which she pleaded no contest, received deferred adjudication, and, ultimately, a dismissal with the case sealed.[1]

Pierson received an associate of science degree from Kilgore College.[4] In 2006, she earned a Bachelor's in biology from the University of Texas at Dallas.[5][6]

Career

Early work

Pierson worked for InVentiv Health in 2008, the Baylor Health Care System from July 2009 to August 2011, as a practice administrator,[7] for ASG Software Solutions, as the director of corporate affairs, from May 2011 to December 2012,[8] and then in a variety of jobs until being hired by the Trump campaign.[8][9]

Early political work

Pierson voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.[5][10] She became an activist in the Tea Party movement in 2009.[11] Speaking in April 2009 at a Dallas Tea Party event, she called for Texas to secede from the U.S.[12] She founded a local Tea Party group in Garland, Texas.[6][11] In 2012, Pierson actively supported Ted Cruz in the 2012 Senate race in Texas and appeared on stage with him on election night in November.[5]

2014 Texas Congressional race

In the 2014 Texas congressional elections, Pierson challenged incumbent congressman Pete Sessions in the Republican primary to represent Texas' 32nd district and lost.[13][14] Her candidacy was endorsed by Rafael Cruz[15] and by Sarah Palin.

In the March primary, Pierson received 36 percent of the vote, losing to Sessions, who received 63 percent.[16]

Pierson went on to become spokesperson for the Tea Party leadership fund.[5]

Trump 2016

In January 2015, Pierson attended a meeting for Tea Party activists in Myrtle Beach with Ted Cruz.[5] While in Myrtle Beach, she also met with Donald Trump.[5] In November 2015 she was hired as the national spokesperson for Trump's campaign,[5] subsequently appearing frequently on television in that capacity, often being seen as one of Trump's staunchest defenders amidst controversial comments.[17][10]

Post 2016 election

After the 2016 election, Pierson turned down an administration position as Deputy Press Secretary,[18][19] and instead worked at America First Policies, a pro-Trump 501(c)(4) group.[20] In March 2018, the Trump 2020 campaign hired Pierson as a senior adviser.[21][14]

Personal life

Pierson had a three-month marriage[1] at a young age, during which she gave birth to a son.[5] She and her son reside in Garland, Texas.[6]

Notes
  1. Pierson's birthday is July 20.[22] She was 39 years old on November 18, 2015.[5] Her full birthday, July 20, 1976, is calculated from these two facts.
gollark: Obviously this just means I'm untainted by capitalism, so you can trust me.
gollark: No.
gollark: Hardly. There is lots of inertia in country design.
gollark: As supreme eternal world dictator, I would be all of knowledgeable (I have a copy of Wikipedia for purposes), ethical (via relativistic trolley collision simulations), and pragmatic (we would have superhuman AI do all diplomacy for us, ethically).
gollark: Except me. I want to and should.

References
  1. Jeffers Jr., Gromer (February 17, 2014). "Pete Sessions Rival Katrina Pierson Says '97 Shoplifting Charge Helped Turn Her Life Around". Politics. The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  2. Meghan (February 12, 2014). "Katrina Pierson about Taking on the Establishment GOP". GlennBeck.com. Archived from the original on February 14, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
  3. Swerdlick, David (February 25, 2014). "Black Tea Partier Katrina Pierson Takes on Obama—and Her Own Party". The Root. Archived from the original on January 21, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  4. Georgatos, Debbie (September 22, 2011). "De-Bunking Tea Party Myths: An Interview with Katrina Pierson". TexasGOPVote. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  5. Schreckinger, Ben; Glueck, Katie (November 18, 2015). "Trump's New Face". Politico. Archived from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  6. "Katrina Pearson [sic]". TeapartyExpress.com. Archived from the original on December 31, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  7. Weigel, David (February 21, 2014). "Weak Tea". Slate. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  8. LaCapria, Kim (August 15, 2016). "Her Arcane Katrina". Snopes.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  9. Hooks, Christopher (February 24, 2014). "The Katrina Pierson Bubble Bursts". The Texas Observer. Archived from the original on February 25, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  10. Tuttle, Ian. "The Many Strange Inconsistencies and Occasional Outright Lies of Donald Trump's Spokeswoman". Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  11. Tinsley, Anna M. (December 14, 2015). "Trump's Outspoken Texas Spokeswoman Likely Will Be Around for Awhile". McClatchy DC. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  12. Kennedy, Bob (November 12, 2015). "Question: Why Jump from Cruz to Trump?". Opinion. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  13. Swartsell, Nick (February 19, 2014). "Sarah Palin Supports Katrina Pierson, Jabs at Pete Sessions". Trail Blazers Blog. Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  14. Gillman, Todd J. (January 13, 2014). "Ted Cruz Adds Katrina Pierson to His Expanding List of the "Utterly Fearless"". Trail Blazers Blog. The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on January 15, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  15. Jeffers Jr., Gromer (January 6, 2014). "Ted Cruz's Dad, Rafael Cruz, Backs Katrina Pierson for Congress Over Incumbent Pete Sessions". Trail Blazers Blog. The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on March 25, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  16. Kamisar, Ben (November 9, 2015). "Trump Taps Ex-Cruz Supporter as Spokeswoman". The Hill. Archived from the original on December 17, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  17. Benen, Steve (December 21, 2015). "Team Trump's Unhealthy Approach to Nuclear Weapons". The Rachel Maddow Show. Archived from the original on December 31, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  18. Savransky, Rebecca (March 14, 2017). "Report: Katrina Pierson turned down top White House job". The Hill. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  19. Resnick, Gideon (March 14, 2017). "'Hurricane Katrina' Pierson Turned Down White House Gig". The Daily Beast. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  20. Bykowicz, Julie (January 30, 2017). "Trump advisers start 'America First Policies' nonprofit". Usnews.com. Associated Press. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  21. Manchester, Julia (March 13, 2018). "Trump campaign hires Katrina Pierson". The Hill. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  22. Pierson, Katrina. "Katrina Pierson". Twitter. See sidebar: "Born on July 20". Archived from the original on July 22, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
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