Kimberly Ann Guilfoyle (/ˈɡɪlfɔɪl/GIL-foyl; born March 9, 1969) is an American television news personality and former prosecutor in San Francisco and Los Angeles. She served as an advisor and led the fundraising division of Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign.
Guilfoyle studied at University of California, Davis, and the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she earned a J.D. degree. She became a prosecuting attorney in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. She was an assistant district attorney in San Francisco from 2000 to 2004. From 2001 to 2006, she was married to Democratic politician Gavin Newsom, and was first lady of San Francisco during Newsom's first two years as mayor of that city. She is currently the fiancée of Donald Trump Jr.
Guilfoyle was born in San Francisco on March 9, 1969. Her mother was Puerto Rican and her father was born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States at the age of 20. She was raised Catholic.[6] She grew up in the Mission District of San Francisco and in Westlake, Daly City.[7]
Guilfoyle's mother, Mercedes, taught special education. She died of leukemia when Guilfoyle was 11.[8] Her father, Anthony "Tony" Guilfoyle, was born in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, and immigrated to the United States in 1957 at the age of 20.[9] In 1958, while still an Irish citizen, he was drafted and spent four years in the U.S. Army.[7] After being discharged from the army, Tony Guilfoyle took up work in the construction trades. He later became a real estate investor. Until his death in 2008, he was a close advisor to his son-in-law, then–San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom.[10][11]
Guilfoyle graduated from San Francisco's Mercy High School,[7][12] and then the University of California, Davis. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1994. While in law school, she interned at the San Francisco district attorney's office. She also was a lingerie and fashion model, being featured in local department stores advertising campaigns (including for Macy's) and modeling Victoria's Secret lingerie for a bridal magazine.[13] She later studied at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. While there, Guilfoyle published research in international children's rights and European Economic Community law.[14]
Career
Law
After law school, Guilfoyle taught in a public school district[7] and briefly worked as a prosecutor in San Francisco. She lost her job in 1996 when Terence Hallinan was elected district attorney and fired 14 of the city's prosecutors.[15] Guilfoyle worked for four years in Los Angeles as a deputy district attorney, serving on adult and juvenile cases. She received several awards at the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, including Prosecutor of the Month.[14]
In 2000, Guilfoyle was rehired by Hallinan in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, where she was an assistant district attorney from 2000 to 2004. During this time she obtained a conviction while co-prosecuting with James Hammer in the 2002 case People v. Noel and Knoller, a second-degree murder trial involving a dog mauling, which received international attention.[16][17]
In 2003, by which time her then-husband Gavin Newsom was the front-running candidate in the 2003 San Francisco mayoral election, Guilfoyle publicly accused her fellow assistant DA Kamala Harris (who was running in the 2003 election for district attorney) of having been unwelcoming years earlier of Guilfoyle's re-hiring at the San Francisco district attorney's office, a claim Harris denied. Guilfoyle did provide positive comments on Harris' qualifications for office, describing Harris as someone that would "work very hard" if elected district attorney, as well as "very smart" and "a good speaker".[18]
Media and politics
Early political activities
In 1995, Guilfoyle worked on the reelection campaign of district attorney Arlo Smith. Around this time, she was also a regular fixture at political fundraisers organized by oil billionaire Gordon Getty, whose son William she dated. (It is not publicly known what the timeline is on Guilfoyle's relationship with Billy Getty.[19])[13]
In January 2004, Guilfoyle moved to New York to host the program Both Sides on Court TV. In addition, she worked as a legal analyst on Anderson Cooper 360°.[20] She joined Fox News in February 2006 as host of the weekend show The Lineup. This was eventually canceled. Guilfoyle remained a regular contributor for the network, and in 2011 was picked as co-host of The Five. She worked as a host on the show until 2018.[21]
In mid-2017, Guilfoyle signed a long-term contract extension with Fox.[24] A year later, in July 2018, Guilfoyle abruptly left Fox News;[25] she began working for a pro–Donald Trump super PAC.[26][27]HuffPost reported that, at the time of her departure, the network had been in the midst of a year-long investigation of a sexual harassment accusation against Guilfoyle. Network officials had given Guilfoyle an ultimatum: Resign by the end of July or be fired.[26]The New Yorker subsequently corroborated reports that Guilfoyle had been forced to resign rather than leaving by choice.[28]
After Guilfoyle left, Fox News agreed to an out-of-court settlement with an assistant who had accused Guilfoyle of sexual harassment. Terms were not disclosed. The New Yorker reported that the settlement was at least $4 million.[28] The assistant alleged that Guilfoyle frequently displayed herself naked, showed photographs of the genitalia of men she had sex with, and required her to sleep over at Guilfoyle's apartment.[28]The New Yorker independently verified several of the assistant's allegations.[28]
Writing
In 2015, Guilfoyle published a semi-autobiographical advice book published by HarperCollins, titled Making the Case: How to Be Your Own Best Advocate, on her experiences growing up, working as a prosecutor, and encouraging people to advocate for themselves.[29]
In April 2024, Guilfoyle announced the upcoming publication of The Princess and her Pup, a children's book that she has authored.[30] Ten percent of its sales are slated to benefit an nonprofit dedicated to animal welfare.[31]
Trump administration and Trump 2020 campaign
In December 2016, it was reported that Guilfoyle was being considered for the position of press secretary for the 45th United States president Donald Trump. Sean Spicer was considered the front-runner for the position,[32] and was ultimately selected. On the May 12, 2017, edition of The Five, co-host Bob Beckel hinted that Guilfoyle turned the job down. In an interview with Bay Area News Group on May 15, 2017, Guilfoyle confirmed she was in contact with the White House about the position following Spicer's resignation. She said: "I'm a patriot, and it would be an honor to serve the country. I think it'd be a fascinating job, it's a challenging job, and you need someone really determined and focused, a great communicator in there with deep knowledge to be able to handle that position."[33][34] On May 19, Guilfoyle said she was under contract with Fox, indicating she turned the White House down. One month later, she extended her contract with Fox.[35]
In 2018, The Washington Post described Guilfoyle as a "conservative cheerleader for President Trump".[36] In 2019, Guilfoyle and Donald Trump Jr. jointly toured school campuses, invited by venues such as the University of Florida, where they were paid $50,000 for their appearance from student activity fees, which led to complaints by anti-Trump students. At the event, two people were arrested and five were injured. Two years earlier, white nationalist Richard B. Spencer had preceded them as an invited speaker, generating similar controversy.[37][38]
In 2020, Guilfoyle was reported to be the chair of the finance committee of the Trump Victory Committee.[39] As of early 2020, the Trump campaign was secretly paying Guilfoyle $15,000 per month through the campaign manager's private company, Parscale Strategy. Guilfoyle served as a surrogate on the stump and took on broad advisory roles.[40][41] In the Trump 2020 campaign, Guilfoyle managed a fund-raising division. This division paid socialite Somers Farkas to raise money.[42] The fundraising division managed by Guilfoyle was in internal turmoil amid departures of experienced staff and accusations of irresponsible spending.[43] In November 2020, Politico's reporting alleged that Guilfoyle had engaged in sexually explicit conversations during private Trump fundraisers that had made some attendees uncomfortable. Politico reported that many campaign insiders alleged that this was part of severe human resources problems that plagued fundraising division, likely damaging the Trump campaign's ability to keep pace with the Biden campaign's fundraising.[44]
At the Republican National Convention in August 2020, Guilfoyle gave a speech endorsing Trump that was widely described by some observers as unnecessarily loud,[45] or unhinged.[46][47] Others in media described it as passionate.[48] She was criticized for describing herself as a first-generation American when her mother was from Puerto Rico and thus an American citizen.[49] She is a first generation American on her father's side, as he immigrated to the United States from Ireland.[9]
On January 6, 2021, Guilfoyle joined Trump, Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, Eric Trump, and others on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., to address the "Save America March". This resulted in the attack on the Capitol.[50] Having raised millions of dollars to support the rally, Guilfoyle was also involved in organizing the protest at the Capitol.[51] She was paid $60,000 for her 2.5 minute rally speech.[52] Guilfoyle was featured in a video screened at the rally by Trump Jr., "break[ing] into the hip-shaking dance she's been showcasing at other recent pro-Trump rallies" and "tell[ing] Trump fans: 'Have the courage to do the right thing! Fight!'".[53]
Guilfoyle speaking at a campaign rally in Sun City, Arizona, in November 2018
Guilfoyle with Charlie Kirk (left) and Donald Trump Jr. (right), pictured at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in 2019
Trump 2024 campaign
Guilfoyle at a June 2024 event
Guilfoyle served on the platform committee of the 2024 Republican National Convention.[54] Guilfoyle delivered a speech at the convention.[55] While delivered in a similar fashion to her derided 2020 convention speech, the 2024 convention featured a in-person audience that reacted receptively to her speech.[56]
Early into her work as a prosecutor in San Francisco, Guilfoyle briefly dated William Getty, a scion of the Getty family.[13] In December 2001, Guilfoyle married politician Gavin Newsom, then a San Francisco city supervisor. Newsom was elected mayor of San Francisco in 2003. While married to Newsom, she used the name Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom. The couple appeared in the September 2004 issue of Harper's Bazaar; the spread had them posed at the Getty Villa, and they were referred to in the title as the "New Kennedys".[57] In January 2005, citing the strain of a bicoastal marriage, Guilfoyle and Newsom jointly filed for divorce.[58] Their divorce was final on February 28, 2006.[59] It later emerged that Newsom, then 39, was having an affair with Ruby Rippey-Tourk, the wife of his then-campaign manager and former deputy chief of staff, Alex Tourk.[60] It is unclear if Guilfoyle knew about the affair before the scandal broke in 2007.[60]
On May 27, 2006, in Barbados, Guilfoyle married furniture heir Eric Villency.[61] On October 4, 2006, Guilfoyle gave birth to their son,[62] Ronan.[63] Guilfoyle and Villency divorced in November 2009.[64]
In June 2018, Vanessa Trump, who had filed for divorce from Donald Trump Jr. three months earlier, confirmed that Guilfoyle was dating Donald Trump Jr.[65] In mid-2019, Guilfoyle and Trump Jr. jointly purchased a $4.4 million home in The Hamptons. They sold it in March 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic for $8.14 million.[66][67] Also in March 2021, the couple jointly purchased a $9.7 million home in Jupiter, Florida.[68] Guilfoyle and Trump became engaged on December 31, 2020. The news of the engagement was not made public until January 2022.[69] Since 2021, Guilfoyle and Trump Jr. have cohabitated in their Jupiter residence.[70]
Guilfoyle's 2017 departure from Fox News was due to alleged sexual harassment on her part.[26][28] Fox News later reached a settlement of at least $4 million with Guilfoyle's accuser.[28] The assistant alleged that Guilfoyle frequently displayed herself naked, showed photographs of the genitalia of men she had sex with, and required her to sleep over at Guilfoyle's apartment.[28]The New Yorker independently verified several of the assistant's allegations.[28] Guilfoyle has also faced separate allegations of making sexually explicit comments at fundraisers. In 2004, it was reported that in speaking on behalf of then-husband, Gavin Newsom, at the Empire State Pride Agenda gay rights fundraiser, Guilfoyle boasted about his attractiveness and large penis size, and implied (through innuendo and pantomiming) that she was talented at providing oral sex. This was treated in San Francisco as a political controversy. Guilfoyle subsequently denied that her arm gestures were meant to be a sexually explicit pantomime.[71] In November 2020, Politico's reporting alleged that Guilfoyle had engaged in sexually explicit conversations during private Trump fundraisers that had made some attendees uncomfortable, including explicit conversations involving Donald Trump Jr., disclosing at a fall 2018 fundraiser that Trump Jr. liked her to cosplay as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, making an offer at a December 2019 fundraiser to personally reward the event's top contributor with a lap dance, and offering at a 2020 fundraiser to host a hot tub party for its top contributor. A Trump campaign spokesperson denied this, asserting that "in context" nothing about her remarks at fundraisers had been offensive.[44]
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