Britt McHenry Is Awful At This

Britt McHenry and Tomi Lahren seem to be in a contest to become the latest incomprehensibly irate white woman at Fox News. It’s like Josh McCown and Johnny Manziel battling to lead the Browns. McHenry, the former ESPNer with reporting expertise, is obviously the veteran McCown, while Lahren is the freewheeling, college-level Manziel—she’s easily excitable and won’t go away until her antics encroach just a little too far. As of now, when shapeless-faced coward Jesse Watters needs a guest on his show, he brings both of them on:

The problem with this QB battle is that the more experienced player is late to the game and can’t meet the job requirements. While other conservative hacks are shooting fish in a barrel, McHenry is punching the water. Here she is ... making a point about the national anthem? I’m not sure what she’s trying to say:

Is Britt mad that the NFL fined Steelers receiver Antonio Brown for dancing—as the scare quotes suggest—or is she using that as an example of why players should be fined more? Whatever she means, it’s good that she hedged it with “nothing prob happens.” She invested in a take that was still only hypothetical. The rebranded Britt McHenry doesn’t just get mad at sports, however. She can huff and puff at the Emmys for being political, despite mixing up the film and TV industries:

Before you say anything, libs, she knows that actors do both film and TV. Thanks for proving her point, or something.

Sincerely, though: This is sad. ESPN laid McHenry off in April, but since she’s still technically under contract, she can’t report about sports, which means she has to bide her time and throw off-target checkdowns for The Federalist. From the available evidence, her heart clearly isn’t in being Proud Conservative Britt McHenry. If she really goes for a regular gig smirking on Fox News—working up 50 percent more racism into her routine, making Jesse Watters feel appreciated—it would reduce her options outside Fox when the time comes. McHenry could do fine if she were free to cover D.C. sports, but her only available avenue right now is to vaguely gesture at the front page of the news, and keep referencing her former employer. If nothing else, she can still say “ I’m on television.”