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Press Briefing by Kayleigh McEnany; June 1, 2020
PRESS BRIEFINGS
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany
Issued on: June 1, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
2:17 P.M. EDT
MS. MCENANY: Good afternoon, everyone. The President has made clear that what we are seeing on America’s streets is unacceptable. Violence, looting, anarchy, lawlessness are not to be tolerated, plain and simple. These criminal acts are not protest. They are not statements. These are crimes that harm innocent American citizens.
The First Amendment guarantees the right of the people to peaceably assemble. What we saw last night in Washington and across the country was not that.
To that end, President Trump is demanding action to protect American citizens, to protect American businesses. Seventeen thousand National Guard are deployed in 24 states, but according to General Milley, only two states have deployed more than 1,000. There are 350,000 National Guard available overall, and for the lawlessness we are seeing, far more needs to be done.
Governors across the country must act, deploy the National Guard as it’s fit, and protect American communities. As President Trump has said repeatedly, it’s very important that we have peaceful protesters and support the rights of peaceful protesters, but we cannot allow a situation like what happened in Minneapolis to descend further into lawless anarchy and chaos, and we understand that very well.
And with that, I’ll take questions.
{snip}
Jon.
Q Yes, Kayleigh, in this call with the governors, the President said that he had put General Milley in charge of all this. What does that mean?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, so —
Q Putting the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in charge of policing American streets, what did he mean?
MS. MCENANY: So I’m not going to get ahead of any actions that will be announced. But what I will say to you is this: that he has had two briefings today with Secretary Esper and AG Barr, and General Milley was there. And there will be additional federal assets deployed across the nation. There will be a central command center, in conjunction with the state and local governments. That will include General Milley, Secretary Esper, and AG Barr. But I won’t go any further in announcing what actions.
Q But can you explain what the President meant when he told the governors, “I have put General Milley in charge”? What does that mean? Because that sounds like a total break here: the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff being in charge of a domestic issue.
MS. MCENANY: In ensuring that, as the President has said — and this has been taken out of context, by the way — that our streets are
Q What’s — what’s taken —
MS. MCENANY: — dominated with a police force and with a National Guard presence, so that — let me explain a little bit about how this works. If there’s a peaceful protest, police will form a line. And what we’ve seen are those lines have been overwhelmed by massive protests that have turned into riots — the peaceful protest to be distinguished from the riots we’ve seen. And when those lines are overwhelmed, law enforcement gets on the defense.
So what the President has said is he wants to dominate the streets with National Guard, with a police presence. And what studies have shown, as General Milley noted — he was in that governors call, and his — his points all pertained to the National Guard, and he noted that there are several studies that when there’s an overwhelming National Guard presence, it actually deescalates the situation and causes less civil unrest.
So General Milley has really been on point in talking about the National Guard, the effectiveness in ensuring that they’re utilized to great effect across the country.
Q But what’s been taken out of context? Because I — I mean, I have the exact quote. It’s a very simple one. He just says that he has put General Milley in charge.
MS. MCENANY: No, not — I wasn’t suggesting that quote was out of context. The “dominate” — I’ve seen some networks that have talked about —
Q Oh, “dominate.” Okay.
MS. MCENANY: — dominating protesters. And I’ve been around the President all day, and anytime he’s used the word “dominate,” it was with regard to dominating the streets and ensuring that we have peace in our streets.
{snip}
Q And on Antifa: Can you explain what the legal authority the President has — is for designating Antifa as a terrorist organization? And can you also talk about why he does not want to label white supremacist groups that are domestically located as terrorist organizations as well?
MS. MCENANY: So let me address the first part about legal authority. Title 18, Section 2331 allows that the term — it defines domestic terrorism as involving “acts dangerous to human life that…appear…intended to influence the policy of a government…” And other elements are laid out. And it allows the Department of Justice, when utilizing this statute, to invoke greater investigatory authority and to invoke harsher — harsher penalties.
I would note that the Justice Department has, in the past, used domestic terrorism in consultation with acts of white supremacy or what were racially motivated acts. Like, in April 2020, a Florida man pled guilty to threatening an African American Charlottesville city council candidate, and at that time, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force was utilized. Same in the case of February 2020, where it was used in connection to four racially motivated violent extremists.
And I would also note the President’s long history of condemning white supremacy and racism. There is no place in society for these egregious, egregious, despicable ideologies.
Q Why hasn’t he designated any white nationalist groups as terrorist organizations?
MS. MCENANY: It has been used — I explained how, in this case, that domestic terrorism will be used as a way that the crime is prosecuted. It’s a prosecutorial method, and it was utilized in the same exact way with regard to white supremacy.
{snip}
Chanel.
Q Thank you, Kayleigh. Is it possible that D.C. will be placed under martial law in order to protect these national monuments from further destruction?
And second, under the Civil Rights Act of ’68, will this administration investigate either members of Congress or political organizations who are funding or tied to Antifa, moving forward?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, you know, on Antifa, I think at this point we’re pursuing the domestic terrorism angle. That’s what the DOJ has decided.
And what was — your first question was about martial law?
Q Martial law to protect national monuments in D.C.
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, so I have not heard that discussed.
Q Can you rule it out?
MS. MCENANY: Any other questions? Yes.
Q Thank you. Can you confirm a phone call earlier today between Presidents Trump and Putin? And if so, considering what the President said to governors later in the day, did he ask President Putin for advice on how to quell unrest in his own country?
MS. MCENANY: I don’t have any details on that call. I wasn’t a part of it. But — and I am not entirely certain what was discussed, but the call did take place.
Yes.
Q Does the President regret using phrases like, “When the shooting starts, the looting starts” — “the looting starts, the shooting starts” and phrases like “vicious dogs”? Is he considering apologizing?
MS. MCENANY: So, the President, on the looting point, he was taken wildly out of context. Twitter — it’s interesting to watch. I’ve seen multiple instances of real incitement of violence on Twitter, but they’ve never penalized those users, like, for instance, Iran. We’ve seen horrific tweets from the Iranian regime about the elimination of the “Zionist regime,” to quote them, and they — that was never flagged. Interesting that their gut instinct was to flag the President, and they did so in an inaccurate way.
The President very clearly laid out what he meant by that tweet — that looting leads to shooting. And we have seen the unfortunate killing of one person in Minneapolis. There were seven people shot in a St. Louis riot a few nights ago.
And the President clearly laid out what he meant. But it is interesting to watch the gut instinct of Twitter to go ahead and label what the President said as somehow inciting violence, which it absolutely was not.
{snip}
And I just want to leave you with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. that, “We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools.”
Thank you.
END 2:39 P.M. EDT
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany
Issued on: June 1, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
2:17 P.M. EDT
MS. MCENANY: Good afternoon, everyone. The President has made clear that what we are seeing on America’s streets is unacceptable. Violence, looting, anarchy, lawlessness are not to be tolerated, plain and simple. These criminal acts are not protest. They are not statements. These are crimes that harm innocent American citizens.
The First Amendment guarantees the right of the people to peaceably assemble. What we saw last night in Washington and across the country was not that.
To that end, President Trump is demanding action to protect American citizens, to protect American businesses. Seventeen thousand National Guard are deployed in 24 states, but according to General Milley, only two states have deployed more than 1,000. There are 350,000 National Guard available overall, and for the lawlessness we are seeing, far more needs to be done.
Governors across the country must act, deploy the National Guard as it’s fit, and protect American communities. As President Trump has said repeatedly, it’s very important that we have peaceful protesters and support the rights of peaceful protesters, but we cannot allow a situation like what happened in Minneapolis to descend further into lawless anarchy and chaos, and we understand that very well.
And with that, I’ll take questions.
{snip}
Jon.
Q Yes, Kayleigh, in this call with the governors, the President said that he had put General Milley in charge of all this. What does that mean?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, so —
Q Putting the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in charge of policing American streets, what did he mean?
MS. MCENANY: So I’m not going to get ahead of any actions that will be announced. But what I will say to you is this: that he has had two briefings today with Secretary Esper and AG Barr, and General Milley was there. And there will be additional federal assets deployed across the nation. There will be a central command center, in conjunction with the state and local governments. That will include General Milley, Secretary Esper, and AG Barr. But I won’t go any further in announcing what actions.
Q But can you explain what the President meant when he told the governors, “I have put General Milley in charge”? What does that mean? Because that sounds like a total break here: the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff being in charge of a domestic issue.
MS. MCENANY: In ensuring that, as the President has said — and this has been taken out of context, by the way — that our streets are
Q What’s — what’s taken —
MS. MCENANY: — dominated with a police force and with a National Guard presence, so that — let me explain a little bit about how this works. If there’s a peaceful protest, police will form a line. And what we’ve seen are those lines have been overwhelmed by massive protests that have turned into riots — the peaceful protest to be distinguished from the riots we’ve seen. And when those lines are overwhelmed, law enforcement gets on the defense.
So what the President has said is he wants to dominate the streets with National Guard, with a police presence. And what studies have shown, as General Milley noted — he was in that governors call, and his — his points all pertained to the National Guard, and he noted that there are several studies that when there’s an overwhelming National Guard presence, it actually deescalates the situation and causes less civil unrest.
So General Milley has really been on point in talking about the National Guard, the effectiveness in ensuring that they’re utilized to great effect across the country.
Q But what’s been taken out of context? Because I — I mean, I have the exact quote. It’s a very simple one. He just says that he has put General Milley in charge.
MS. MCENANY: No, not — I wasn’t suggesting that quote was out of context. The “dominate” — I’ve seen some networks that have talked about —
Q Oh, “dominate.” Okay.
MS. MCENANY: — dominating protesters. And I’ve been around the President all day, and anytime he’s used the word “dominate,” it was with regard to dominating the streets and ensuring that we have peace in our streets.
{snip}
Q And on Antifa: Can you explain what the legal authority the President has — is for designating Antifa as a terrorist organization? And can you also talk about why he does not want to label white supremacist groups that are domestically located as terrorist organizations as well?
MS. MCENANY: So let me address the first part about legal authority. Title 18, Section 2331 allows that the term — it defines domestic terrorism as involving “acts dangerous to human life that…appear…intended to influence the policy of a government…” And other elements are laid out. And it allows the Department of Justice, when utilizing this statute, to invoke greater investigatory authority and to invoke harsher — harsher penalties.
I would note that the Justice Department has, in the past, used domestic terrorism in consultation with acts of white supremacy or what were racially motivated acts. Like, in April 2020, a Florida man pled guilty to threatening an African American Charlottesville city council candidate, and at that time, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force was utilized. Same in the case of February 2020, where it was used in connection to four racially motivated violent extremists.
And I would also note the President’s long history of condemning white supremacy and racism. There is no place in society for these egregious, egregious, despicable ideologies.
Q Why hasn’t he designated any white nationalist groups as terrorist organizations?
MS. MCENANY: It has been used — I explained how, in this case, that domestic terrorism will be used as a way that the crime is prosecuted. It’s a prosecutorial method, and it was utilized in the same exact way with regard to white supremacy.
{snip}
Chanel.
Q Thank you, Kayleigh. Is it possible that D.C. will be placed under martial law in order to protect these national monuments from further destruction?
And second, under the Civil Rights Act of ’68, will this administration investigate either members of Congress or political organizations who are funding or tied to Antifa, moving forward?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, you know, on Antifa, I think at this point we’re pursuing the domestic terrorism angle. That’s what the DOJ has decided.
And what was — your first question was about martial law?
Q Martial law to protect national monuments in D.C.
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, so I have not heard that discussed.
Q Can you rule it out?
MS. MCENANY: Any other questions? Yes.
Q Thank you. Can you confirm a phone call earlier today between Presidents Trump and Putin? And if so, considering what the President said to governors later in the day, did he ask President Putin for advice on how to quell unrest in his own country?
MS. MCENANY: I don’t have any details on that call. I wasn’t a part of it. But — and I am not entirely certain what was discussed, but the call did take place.
Yes.
Q Does the President regret using phrases like, “When the shooting starts, the looting starts” — “the looting starts, the shooting starts” and phrases like “vicious dogs”? Is he considering apologizing?
MS. MCENANY: So, the President, on the looting point, he was taken wildly out of context. Twitter — it’s interesting to watch. I’ve seen multiple instances of real incitement of violence on Twitter, but they’ve never penalized those users, like, for instance, Iran. We’ve seen horrific tweets from the Iranian regime about the elimination of the “Zionist regime,” to quote them, and they — that was never flagged. Interesting that their gut instinct was to flag the President, and they did so in an inaccurate way.
The President very clearly laid out what he meant by that tweet — that looting leads to shooting. And we have seen the unfortunate killing of one person in Minneapolis. There were seven people shot in a St. Louis riot a few nights ago.
And the President clearly laid out what he meant. But it is interesting to watch the gut instinct of Twitter to go ahead and label what the President said as somehow inciting violence, which it absolutely was not.
{snip}
And I just want to leave you with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. that, “We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools.”
Thank you.
END 2:39 P.M. EDT
