Katrina Pierson

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

In January 2015, Pierson attended a meeting for Tea Party activists in Myrtle Beach with Ted Cruz. While in Myrtle Beach, she also met with Donald Trump. After meeting with Trump or his aides a few more times, Pierson introduced Trump at a campaign rally held in Dallas in September. In November 2015 she was hired as the national spokesperson for Trump's campaign, subsequently appearing frequently on television in that capacity, often being seen as one of Trump's staunchest defenders amidst controversial comments.

In the 2014 Texas congressional elections, Pierson challenged incumbent congressman Pete Sessions in the Republican primary to represent Texas' 32nd district. Her candidacy was endorsed by Rafael Cruz and by Sarah Palin, who called her "a feisty fighter for freedom." While U.S. senator Ted Cruz offered praise, calling her an "utterly fearless principled conservative," he stopped short of an endorsement.

In January 2014, Pierson broadcast a campaign ad in which she quipped "President Obama says ‘I wouldn’t let my son play pro football.’ That’s weird. I wouldn’t let my son add $7 trillion to the national debt." The Independent Journal Review dubbed it "one of the sassiest ads ever."

By mid-February 2014, Pierson had received only $76,000 in campaign contributions; Sessions had received almost twenty times more. In the March primary, Pierson received 36 percent of the vote, losing to Sessions, who received 63 percent. Pierson went on to become spokesperson for the Tea Party leadership fund.

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

Pierson voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. However, Pierson began shifting rightward because Obama did not wear an American flag on his lapel. She became an activist in the Tea Party movement in 2009. Speaking in April 2009 at a Dallas Tea Party event, she called for Texas to secede from the U.S. She founded a local Tea Party group in Garland, Texas. 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.

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

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. She reportedly took $168 in merchandise from a J. C. Penney store in Plano, Texas. She had her 3-month-old son with her at the time. Pierson told authorities she needed the clothes for job interviews. She has said that the incident helped her turn her life around, showing her that mistakes often come with consequences.

Katrina Lanette Pierson (née Shaddix; born (1976-07-20 ) July 20, 1976) is an American Tea Party activist and communications consultant. She was the national spokesperson for the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign, and was a regular CNN contributor during the campaign.