Katrina Lanette Pierson (born Katrina Lanette Shaddix; July 20, 1976) is a Texas Tea Party activist and communications consultant from Dallas, Texas. Pierson had a short-lived marriage at a young age that gave her a son, Christopher. In 1997, at the age of 20, she was arrested for shoplifting, to which she pleaded no contest, received deferred adjudication, and, ultimately, a dismissal with the case sealed. As of 2015, Pierson and her son were residing in Garland, Texas. Since November 2015, she has served as national spokesperson for the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign. Pierson was born in Kansas to a white mother and a black father, and grew up with her mother in poverty. Her mother initially gave her up for adoption, but later changed her mind. In 2006, Pierson earned a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Texas at Dallas. After voting for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, Pierson joined the Tea Party movement, becoming an activist.Pierson founded a local Tea Party group in Garland, Texas. She actively supported Ted Cruz in the 2012 Senate race in Texas and appeared on stage with him on election night. Pierson has previously served on several local committees, including one that advises Dallas Area Rapid Transit.
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.[citation needed] Her candidacy was endorsed by Rafael Cruz and Sarah Palin. While U.S. Senator Ted Cruz offered praise, he stopped short of an endorsement. In the election, she 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. 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 in the spring, 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 this capacity. Pierson has sometimes drawn attention to herself in her appearances. In an interview on CNN in December 2015, she wore a necklace made of bullets, a choice that engendered debate on Twitter and led to several media mentions. In January 2016, a racially charged tweet that Pierson had posted about two leading 2012 presidential election candidates came to light, garnering rebukes from many commentators. Pierson's tweet ran: "Perfect Obama's dad born in Africa, Mitt Romney's dad born in Mexico. Any pure breeds left?" During an interview on CNN, Pierson was asked if she wished to retract her comment; she declined, explaining, "I'm an activist and I am a half-breed. I'm always getting called a half-breed. And on Twitter when you're fighting with liberals and even establishment, you go back at them in the same silliness they are giving you. So, I myself am a half-breed." As of December 2015, Pierson served on the Texas Tea Party Caucus advisory committee.
