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Press Briefing by Kayleigh McEnany; June 22, 2020
PRESS BRIEFINGS
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany
Issued on: June 22, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
1:28 P.M. EDT
MS. MCENANY: Hello, everyone. This past Fathers Day weekend, we saw violence across the country, but we saw scant media coverage of this violence.
Lets be clear here: The states are responsible for policing their streets. The governors, the mayors are responsible for ensuring that our streets are safe, that the American people are protected. And what we have seen is, in far too many Democrat-runs states and Democrat-run cities, we have seen violence and chaos and nothing like the law and order that we saw here in D.C. when President Trump stepped in and surged the National Guard.
{snip}
It is the responsibility of governors to protect their states, to police their streets. The police power rests at the state level. And we expect mayors to step up and to do their job, and governors to step up and do their job in the mold of President Trump, who secured D.C. after a night of lawlessness two weeks ago.
Finally, the Defund Police movement is misguided. It will only hurt the vulnerable citizens of American cities the most. Its sad, and it is shameful.
And with that, Ill take questions. Yes.
Q Kayleigh, thank you. Has the President actually directed officials to slow down the rate of coronavirus testing?
MS. MCENANY: No, he has not directed that. And, in fact, I would note that, first, we continue to test about 500,000 per day, about half a million people per day. $1.8 billion is invested in NIH to find new testing capabilities. Any suggestion that testing has been curtailed is not rooted in fact.
And, yeah, I would just note the extraordinary efforts of this administration: more than, at this point, 26.7 million tests, and we should be north of that.
Q So when he told us when he said Saturday that he told his people to slow it down, what did he mean by that?
MS. MCENANY: The President was trying to expose what the media oftentimes does is they ignore the fact that the United States has more cases because we have more testing. We are leading the world in testing, and he was pointing that out that its a fact that the media readily ignores.
Q So what hes saying that he told officials to he told his people to slow down testing is not true?
MS. MCENANY: It was a comment that he made in jest. Its a comment that he made in passing, specifically with regard to the media coverage and pointing out the fact that the media never acknowledges that we have more cases because when you test more people, you find more cases.
Q Is it appropriate to joke about coronavirus when 120,000 people have died?
MS. MCENANY: He was not joking about coronavirus. I just said he was joking about the media and their failure to understand the fact that when you test more, you also find more cases.
Weijia.
Q Kayleigh, thanks so much. To follow up on that, has the President ever delayed the allocation of federal funding thats already been dedicated to national testing?
MS. MCENANY: No. On the contrary, the President has led the way to make us the leading country in the world on testing. In fact, the FDA has authorized 144 tests under EUAs Emergency Use Authorizations. These include 122 molecular tests, 21 antibody tests, one antigen test. And the President has led the way in making us the worlds leader when it with regard to testing.
Q So why is the administration sitting on about $14 billion of funds that have been approved but not yet allocated?
MS. MCENANY: Well, I just mentioned the $1.8 billion at NIH thats there, and were exploring new testing. Were leading the world in testing, and we will continue to do so.
Yes.
Q And, Kayleigh, I have a question of my own: Last July, President Trump declared himself the least racist person there is anywhere in the world. Why does he use racist phrases like the Kung flu?
MS. MCENANY: The President doesnt. What the President does do is point to the fact that the origin of the virus is China. Its a fair thing to point out, as China tries to ridiculously rewrite history, ridiculously blame the coronavirus on American soldiers. This is what China is trying to do. And what President Trump is saying, No, China, I will label this virus for its place of origin.
Q Thats what hes saying by using the racist phrase, Kung flu?
MS. MCENANY: He is linking it to its place of origin. And
Q What does he have to say to Asian Americans who are deeply offended and worry that his use will lead to further attacks of discrimination?
MS. MCENANY: So, the President has said very clearly, its important that we totally protect our Asian [American] community in the U.S. and all around the world. Theyre amazing people, and the spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way, shape, or form. Theyre working closely with us to get rid of it. We will prevail together. Its very important.
So its not a discussion about Asian Americans, who the President values and prizes as citizens of this great country; it is an indictment of China for letting this virus get here.
And I would also point out that the media blames President Trump for using the terms China virus and Wuhan virus, when they themselves have used these very terms. The New York Times called it the Chinese coronavirus; Reuters, the Chinese virus; CNN, the Chinese coronavirus on January 20; Washington Post, January 21st, Chinese coronavirus. And I have more than a dozen other examples.
Q This is for a separate category, Kayleigh. Kung flu is extremely offensive to many people in the Asian American community. To be clear: Are you saying the White House does not believe it is racist?
MS. MCENANY: To be clear, I think the media is trying to play games with the terminology of this virus, where the focus should be on the fact that China let this out of their country. The same phrase that the media roundly now condemns has been used by the media. I can go more examples: Wuhan virus, CNN said on January 22nd. And we can go on and on and on.
So, while the media wants to focus on nomenclature, the President is going to focus on action.
Yes.
Q Kayleigh, the President and the Attorney General, over the weekend, offered different explanations behind the firing of Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Can you clarify now why Berman was dismissed and if it was at the Presidents request?
MS. MCENANY: Well, I think that they were very much in sync this weekend the Attorney General and the President. And here is what happened: The President held Mr. Clayton in very high regard and wanted to nominate him to this position in SDNY to keep him in the government as he returns to New York. Barr was working on a smooth transition, and when Berman chose to respond in the way that he did, he came to the President, and the President agreed and fired this individual, Mr. Berman, as Mr. Clayton now will, in time, get to that position.
Q But why was Mr. Berman being dismissed in the first place?
MS. MCENANY: Because Mr. Clayton wanted to go back to New York City. We wanted to keep him in government. And therefore, he was given the position at SDNY.
Kaitlan.
Q But why did the President I have two questions. But why did the President say he wasnt involved in the firing of Geoff Berman, when the Attorney General said he the President was the one who fired him?
MS. MCENANY: Because the Attorney General was taking the lead on this matter. He did come to the President and report to him when Mr. Berman decided not to leave. And at that point is when the President agreed with the decision of the Attorney General and the to fire Mr. Berman and to promote Mr. Clayton.
Q But so, he was involved in it then?
MS. MCENANY: He was involved in the sign-off capacity. He was not AG Barr was leading the way. But in the sign-off capacity, yes, the President was.
Q So my second question, on testing, is: You said the President made that comment in jest about having people slow down the testing. The Vice President just said that it was made in passing. Peter Navarro said it was tongue in cheek. But when the President himself was just asked by a reporter, like an hour ago, he did not say that he was just joking when he said that he told officials to slow down the testing.
MS. MCENANY: The President instead used that opportunity to extol the fact that weve done more than 25 million tests, that were finding more people because were doing more testing. And I would note that what the Vice President said and Peter Navarro, whether its in jest, in passing, or tongue in cheek those are all synonymous.
Q But why is that funny?
MS. MCENANY: Yes, Justin.
Q And I just want to note, to follow up on Weijia you dont even have to answer this the media has never called it the Kung flu. Calling it a Chinese coronavirus and calling the Kung flu are very different things.
MS. MCENANY: The media the media and your network, specifically
Q The New York Times and CNN called it the Kung flu?
MS. MCENANY: The media and your network, specifically, have repeatedly
Q They called it the Kung flu?
MS. MCENANY used the term China virus
Q Kung flu.
MS. MCENANY: and Wuhan virus, and then gone on to deride the President as somehow using a term that they themselves have never used. So we can go through CNNs history
Q Kung flu is not a medical term, Kayleigh. You know that.
MS. MCENANY: Id be more than happy to go through CNNs history. On February 9th, you guys talked about the Wuhan coronavirus. On January 23rd, you guys talked about the Wuhan coronavirus. On January 22nd, the Wuhan virus. I can write it all out for you and detail for you in an email.
Q Thats not the same as calling it the Kung flu, though, Kayleigh. Youve got to admit that.
MS. MCENANY: Yes, Justin.
Q It is not the same thing as calling it the Kung flu.
MS. MCENANY: Yes, Justin.
Q I first want to just follow on what you were just talking about with Berman. So, obviously, the President made the decision to nominate Clayton for the job, and that led to the sort of kerfuffle that we saw over the weekend.
But there is this decision to get to remove Berman from the post before Clayton was nominated or before Clayton was either nominated or, more importantly, confirmed. And so, I think the question is: Why did you take the Acting U.S. Attorney out of his job before there was a semi-confirmed replacement?
MS. MCENANY: Because there is an intent to put Clayton there, and so there will be interim individual an Acting Attorney as we work to get Mr. Clayton in that position.
Q Yeah. But, I guess, the question is: Why didnt he continue in his position until Clayton was confirmed?
MS. MCENANY: Because we are hopeful that Clayton will be confirmed. Were not leaving him there. Were putting an interim person in place. No investigation will be affected by this, as was made clear by Attorney General Barr.
{snip}
Q Was the President happy with the size of the crowd in Tulsa?
MS. MCENANY: The President was very pleased with the rally. I was with him. And I just have to say these media reports that he was somehow furious on the plane there is no grounding in fact to that. I was with him on Marine One on the way there, on Marine One after. He was very very pleased with how the rally went. And the media reporting on this prompted me to go around and ask some of my colleagues if they saw something different. And I spoke with Dan Scavino, who was in the Beast with the President right after the rally and said he was very energized having been around the American people.
So he is quite pleased with how the rally went. And even a political pundit wrote to him that it was one of the all-time great speeches theyd ever heard. We saw him expose his own humanity when he described the wonderful West Point story. The speech made his message so clear and compelling that no one could possibly have missed it. And it was so great to be out of the swamp and in the country. And those comments are how the President feels, too.
{snip}
MS. MCENANY: So, in the Trump administration, were quite good at doing two things at once. Were expected to do many things at one time.
{snip}
Q Kayleigh, two on Venezuela. But, first, I just wanted to follow up very quickly on Weijias question and Kaitlans follow. Does the President regret using the term Kung flu, regardless of the fact that media organizations, including my own, had, early on, described the virus as the Wuhan virus? That is a different thing than saying Kung flu. Does the President regret using that term?
MS. MCENANY: The President never regrets putting the onus back on China pointing out that China is responsible for this and, in the process, standing up for U.S. troops who are being blamed by China in a campaign of misinformation.
{snip}
Q Does he reject the characterization in John Boltons book that he once said it would be cool to engage Venezuela?
MS. MCENANY: John Bolton has completely discredited himself. Multiple senior administration officials are on the record exposing his lies, and even the media seems to have taken note of John Bolton and how ridiculous some of the things he said. The reviews that his book have gotten has gotten have been rightly right on in the media.
The media said that this book is exceedingly tedious and slightly unhinged, bloated with self-importance that was the New York Times. The New Yorker said, He takes an inflated view of himself and a willingness to blame others for just about everything. The Federalist talked about the numerous serious factual flaws, which have been underlined as being false by Pompeo, Lighthizer, and others, who have all come out and said that this book is full of mistruths about themselves and about others in this administration and certainly about the President.
Q But does he claim that that was untrue then? Bolton
MS. MCENANY: Yes.
Q Kayleigh, thank you very much.
MS. MCENANY: Yes.
Q Does I wanted to go back to the SDNY and Berman. Was Geoffrey Berman fired because of investigations that he had overseen into President Trumps associates, including Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen? Was he fired because he had overseen those investigations?
MS. MCENANY: No, he was not. And as I noted earlier and AG Barr noted, this will not disrupt the cases being handled by the district, which will proceed as normal.
Q But is the President and the White House not at least concerned about the appearance of impropriety in the firing, given that those cases were being handled in his office?
MS. MCENANY: The administration has very clearly outlined the reason that he is leaving, and it is because Mr. Clayton will be moved into that role.
{snip}
Yamiche.
Q Hi. Thank you, Kayleigh. I have two quick questions. The first is on: The President has attacked the move to remove confederate statues across the country. He said that they were it was an assault on quote, our heritage. What does the White House and the President say to Americans who find it offensive to glorify people who owned other Americans, including enslaved African Americans?
MS. MCENANY: So, I would note on statues that what were seeing across the country is really quite confusing, because youre seeing statues defaced, like Gandhis statue defaced and Ulysses S. Grants statues
Q My question was on Confederate statues.
MS. MCENANY: defaced and abolitionist Matthias Baldwins statue defaced. At the same time
Q My question is on Confederate statues.
MS. MCENANY: were being told that George Washingtons statue needs to come down and Thomas Jeffersons statue needs to come down. Where do you draw the line, you know, from Gandhi, all the way down to George Washington?
And it seems the American people very much agree with the President on this, on not bringing down these statues. Less than a third of those polled, according to Morning Consult, think these statues should be taken down; 61 percent oppose it. According to Marist, 62 percent according
Q Are you going to answer the question about what you say to Americans who are offended by them?
MS. MCENANY: according to Marist.
So I would point that out and I would say that, when people watch these statue defacements and the beheading of some of these statues, like Christopher Columbus, where do you draw the line? Because apparently the line goes all the way to Gandhi.
Yes.
Q So this means and then my second
MS. MCENANY: Chanel.
Q Sorry, my second question is: Going back to the issue of Kung flu, I spoke to Kellyanne Conway in March. She said that it was highly offensive and wrong to use that term. Does the President agree with Kellyanne Conway? Or is he now saying that that term is not highly offensive and wrong? Because again, that was Kellyanne Conways own words, saying Kung flu is wrong.
MS. MCENANY: The President does not believe that its offensive to note that this virus came from China and to stand up for our U.S. military
Q Its not noting that it came from China. Its Kung flu.
MS. MCENANY: who China is making an active effort to completely defame, and that is unacceptable to the President.
Q So, youre okay
MS. MCENANY: Chanel.
Q Thank you, Kayleigh.
Q Again, just to go back to what I said on
Q On John Boltons book
Q as I said on Kellyanne Conway, she said that it was wrong and offensive. Are you saying that she was wrong to say that?
MS. MCENANY: Chanel.
Q Are you saying that she was wrong to say that?
Q Kayleigh, on John Bolton and his book: If he goes unprosecuted, does the administration feel that this would set or does it fear that this would set a precedent or embolden public servants to violate their oaths to this nation for political purposes?
MS. MCENANY: Absolutely, thats a concern. Look, the information in John Boltons book was classified information, as confirmed by the most senior national security and intelligence officials.
And, look, you have NSA Director Nakasone saying that this could cause permanent loss of a valuable source intelligence source and damage to the U.S. intelligence system; DNI Ratcliffe saying virtually the same. You have another government official saying the unauthorized disclosure of this information could reasonably be expected to enable foreign threat actors.
This is the seriousness with which we look at this book and the NSC looks at this book as they scan it for classified information. There is real damage that can be done. And for what? For self-promotion and publicity of a failed NSA Director.
Q On Venezuela, also: Can I ask about Maduro and Guaidó? Why has President Trump seemed to have lost confidence in Juan Guaidó?
MS. MCENANY: He has not lost confidence at all, and that tweet that I read to you very clearly says that that the President put out this morning. We stand with the Venezuelan people in their fight for freedom.
And I would also note how tough this President has been on Maduro, by recognizing Juan Guaidó. And when you compare that to the Obama-Biden administration, you had the former Vice President, Joe Biden, who actually met with the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro, and complimented his hair, according to Yahoo News. If I had your hair, Id be President of the United States, the former Vice President said. And also the Obama State Department helped stabilize the Maduro regime by blocking sanctions, according to a 2017 Miami Herald report.
So when you compare the actions of this President, weve stood against socialism and on the side of freedom.
And finally, one thing that I just want to point out that was handed to me wow, a whopping 7.7 million total viewers turned tuned into Fox News to watch the rally on Saturday night. Big numbers.
Thanks so much guys.
END
1:50 P.M. EDT
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany
Issued on: June 22, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
1:28 P.M. EDT
MS. MCENANY: Hello, everyone. This past Fathers Day weekend, we saw violence across the country, but we saw scant media coverage of this violence.
Lets be clear here: The states are responsible for policing their streets. The governors, the mayors are responsible for ensuring that our streets are safe, that the American people are protected. And what we have seen is, in far too many Democrat-runs states and Democrat-run cities, we have seen violence and chaos and nothing like the law and order that we saw here in D.C. when President Trump stepped in and surged the National Guard.
{snip}
It is the responsibility of governors to protect their states, to police their streets. The police power rests at the state level. And we expect mayors to step up and to do their job, and governors to step up and do their job in the mold of President Trump, who secured D.C. after a night of lawlessness two weeks ago.
Finally, the Defund Police movement is misguided. It will only hurt the vulnerable citizens of American cities the most. Its sad, and it is shameful.
And with that, Ill take questions. Yes.
Q Kayleigh, thank you. Has the President actually directed officials to slow down the rate of coronavirus testing?
MS. MCENANY: No, he has not directed that. And, in fact, I would note that, first, we continue to test about 500,000 per day, about half a million people per day. $1.8 billion is invested in NIH to find new testing capabilities. Any suggestion that testing has been curtailed is not rooted in fact.
And, yeah, I would just note the extraordinary efforts of this administration: more than, at this point, 26.7 million tests, and we should be north of that.
Q So when he told us when he said Saturday that he told his people to slow it down, what did he mean by that?
MS. MCENANY: The President was trying to expose what the media oftentimes does is they ignore the fact that the United States has more cases because we have more testing. We are leading the world in testing, and he was pointing that out that its a fact that the media readily ignores.
Q So what hes saying that he told officials to he told his people to slow down testing is not true?
MS. MCENANY: It was a comment that he made in jest. Its a comment that he made in passing, specifically with regard to the media coverage and pointing out the fact that the media never acknowledges that we have more cases because when you test more people, you find more cases.
Q Is it appropriate to joke about coronavirus when 120,000 people have died?
MS. MCENANY: He was not joking about coronavirus. I just said he was joking about the media and their failure to understand the fact that when you test more, you also find more cases.
Weijia.
Q Kayleigh, thanks so much. To follow up on that, has the President ever delayed the allocation of federal funding thats already been dedicated to national testing?
MS. MCENANY: No. On the contrary, the President has led the way to make us the leading country in the world on testing. In fact, the FDA has authorized 144 tests under EUAs Emergency Use Authorizations. These include 122 molecular tests, 21 antibody tests, one antigen test. And the President has led the way in making us the worlds leader when it with regard to testing.
Q So why is the administration sitting on about $14 billion of funds that have been approved but not yet allocated?
MS. MCENANY: Well, I just mentioned the $1.8 billion at NIH thats there, and were exploring new testing. Were leading the world in testing, and we will continue to do so.
Yes.
Q And, Kayleigh, I have a question of my own: Last July, President Trump declared himself the least racist person there is anywhere in the world. Why does he use racist phrases like the Kung flu?
MS. MCENANY: The President doesnt. What the President does do is point to the fact that the origin of the virus is China. Its a fair thing to point out, as China tries to ridiculously rewrite history, ridiculously blame the coronavirus on American soldiers. This is what China is trying to do. And what President Trump is saying, No, China, I will label this virus for its place of origin.
Q Thats what hes saying by using the racist phrase, Kung flu?
MS. MCENANY: He is linking it to its place of origin. And
Q What does he have to say to Asian Americans who are deeply offended and worry that his use will lead to further attacks of discrimination?
MS. MCENANY: So, the President has said very clearly, its important that we totally protect our Asian [American] community in the U.S. and all around the world. Theyre amazing people, and the spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way, shape, or form. Theyre working closely with us to get rid of it. We will prevail together. Its very important.
So its not a discussion about Asian Americans, who the President values and prizes as citizens of this great country; it is an indictment of China for letting this virus get here.
And I would also point out that the media blames President Trump for using the terms China virus and Wuhan virus, when they themselves have used these very terms. The New York Times called it the Chinese coronavirus; Reuters, the Chinese virus; CNN, the Chinese coronavirus on January 20; Washington Post, January 21st, Chinese coronavirus. And I have more than a dozen other examples.
Q This is for a separate category, Kayleigh. Kung flu is extremely offensive to many people in the Asian American community. To be clear: Are you saying the White House does not believe it is racist?
MS. MCENANY: To be clear, I think the media is trying to play games with the terminology of this virus, where the focus should be on the fact that China let this out of their country. The same phrase that the media roundly now condemns has been used by the media. I can go more examples: Wuhan virus, CNN said on January 22nd. And we can go on and on and on.
So, while the media wants to focus on nomenclature, the President is going to focus on action.
Yes.
Q Kayleigh, the President and the Attorney General, over the weekend, offered different explanations behind the firing of Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Can you clarify now why Berman was dismissed and if it was at the Presidents request?
MS. MCENANY: Well, I think that they were very much in sync this weekend the Attorney General and the President. And here is what happened: The President held Mr. Clayton in very high regard and wanted to nominate him to this position in SDNY to keep him in the government as he returns to New York. Barr was working on a smooth transition, and when Berman chose to respond in the way that he did, he came to the President, and the President agreed and fired this individual, Mr. Berman, as Mr. Clayton now will, in time, get to that position.
Q But why was Mr. Berman being dismissed in the first place?
MS. MCENANY: Because Mr. Clayton wanted to go back to New York City. We wanted to keep him in government. And therefore, he was given the position at SDNY.
Kaitlan.
Q But why did the President I have two questions. But why did the President say he wasnt involved in the firing of Geoff Berman, when the Attorney General said he the President was the one who fired him?
MS. MCENANY: Because the Attorney General was taking the lead on this matter. He did come to the President and report to him when Mr. Berman decided not to leave. And at that point is when the President agreed with the decision of the Attorney General and the to fire Mr. Berman and to promote Mr. Clayton.
Q But so, he was involved in it then?
MS. MCENANY: He was involved in the sign-off capacity. He was not AG Barr was leading the way. But in the sign-off capacity, yes, the President was.
Q So my second question, on testing, is: You said the President made that comment in jest about having people slow down the testing. The Vice President just said that it was made in passing. Peter Navarro said it was tongue in cheek. But when the President himself was just asked by a reporter, like an hour ago, he did not say that he was just joking when he said that he told officials to slow down the testing.
MS. MCENANY: The President instead used that opportunity to extol the fact that weve done more than 25 million tests, that were finding more people because were doing more testing. And I would note that what the Vice President said and Peter Navarro, whether its in jest, in passing, or tongue in cheek those are all synonymous.
Q But why is that funny?
MS. MCENANY: Yes, Justin.
Q And I just want to note, to follow up on Weijia you dont even have to answer this the media has never called it the Kung flu. Calling it a Chinese coronavirus and calling the Kung flu are very different things.
MS. MCENANY: The media the media and your network, specifically
Q The New York Times and CNN called it the Kung flu?
MS. MCENANY: The media and your network, specifically, have repeatedly
Q They called it the Kung flu?
MS. MCENANY used the term China virus
Q Kung flu.
MS. MCENANY: and Wuhan virus, and then gone on to deride the President as somehow using a term that they themselves have never used. So we can go through CNNs history
Q Kung flu is not a medical term, Kayleigh. You know that.
MS. MCENANY: Id be more than happy to go through CNNs history. On February 9th, you guys talked about the Wuhan coronavirus. On January 23rd, you guys talked about the Wuhan coronavirus. On January 22nd, the Wuhan virus. I can write it all out for you and detail for you in an email.
Q Thats not the same as calling it the Kung flu, though, Kayleigh. Youve got to admit that.
MS. MCENANY: Yes, Justin.
Q It is not the same thing as calling it the Kung flu.
MS. MCENANY: Yes, Justin.
Q I first want to just follow on what you were just talking about with Berman. So, obviously, the President made the decision to nominate Clayton for the job, and that led to the sort of kerfuffle that we saw over the weekend.
But there is this decision to get to remove Berman from the post before Clayton was nominated or before Clayton was either nominated or, more importantly, confirmed. And so, I think the question is: Why did you take the Acting U.S. Attorney out of his job before there was a semi-confirmed replacement?
MS. MCENANY: Because there is an intent to put Clayton there, and so there will be interim individual an Acting Attorney as we work to get Mr. Clayton in that position.
Q Yeah. But, I guess, the question is: Why didnt he continue in his position until Clayton was confirmed?
MS. MCENANY: Because we are hopeful that Clayton will be confirmed. Were not leaving him there. Were putting an interim person in place. No investigation will be affected by this, as was made clear by Attorney General Barr.
{snip}
Q Was the President happy with the size of the crowd in Tulsa?
MS. MCENANY: The President was very pleased with the rally. I was with him. And I just have to say these media reports that he was somehow furious on the plane there is no grounding in fact to that. I was with him on Marine One on the way there, on Marine One after. He was very very pleased with how the rally went. And the media reporting on this prompted me to go around and ask some of my colleagues if they saw something different. And I spoke with Dan Scavino, who was in the Beast with the President right after the rally and said he was very energized having been around the American people.
So he is quite pleased with how the rally went. And even a political pundit wrote to him that it was one of the all-time great speeches theyd ever heard. We saw him expose his own humanity when he described the wonderful West Point story. The speech made his message so clear and compelling that no one could possibly have missed it. And it was so great to be out of the swamp and in the country. And those comments are how the President feels, too.
{snip}
MS. MCENANY: So, in the Trump administration, were quite good at doing two things at once. Were expected to do many things at one time.
{snip}
Q Kayleigh, two on Venezuela. But, first, I just wanted to follow up very quickly on Weijias question and Kaitlans follow. Does the President regret using the term Kung flu, regardless of the fact that media organizations, including my own, had, early on, described the virus as the Wuhan virus? That is a different thing than saying Kung flu. Does the President regret using that term?
MS. MCENANY: The President never regrets putting the onus back on China pointing out that China is responsible for this and, in the process, standing up for U.S. troops who are being blamed by China in a campaign of misinformation.
{snip}
Q Does he reject the characterization in John Boltons book that he once said it would be cool to engage Venezuela?
MS. MCENANY: John Bolton has completely discredited himself. Multiple senior administration officials are on the record exposing his lies, and even the media seems to have taken note of John Bolton and how ridiculous some of the things he said. The reviews that his book have gotten has gotten have been rightly right on in the media.
The media said that this book is exceedingly tedious and slightly unhinged, bloated with self-importance that was the New York Times. The New Yorker said, He takes an inflated view of himself and a willingness to blame others for just about everything. The Federalist talked about the numerous serious factual flaws, which have been underlined as being false by Pompeo, Lighthizer, and others, who have all come out and said that this book is full of mistruths about themselves and about others in this administration and certainly about the President.
Q But does he claim that that was untrue then? Bolton
MS. MCENANY: Yes.
Q Kayleigh, thank you very much.
MS. MCENANY: Yes.
Q Does I wanted to go back to the SDNY and Berman. Was Geoffrey Berman fired because of investigations that he had overseen into President Trumps associates, including Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen? Was he fired because he had overseen those investigations?
MS. MCENANY: No, he was not. And as I noted earlier and AG Barr noted, this will not disrupt the cases being handled by the district, which will proceed as normal.
Q But is the President and the White House not at least concerned about the appearance of impropriety in the firing, given that those cases were being handled in his office?
MS. MCENANY: The administration has very clearly outlined the reason that he is leaving, and it is because Mr. Clayton will be moved into that role.
{snip}
Yamiche.
Q Hi. Thank you, Kayleigh. I have two quick questions. The first is on: The President has attacked the move to remove confederate statues across the country. He said that they were it was an assault on quote, our heritage. What does the White House and the President say to Americans who find it offensive to glorify people who owned other Americans, including enslaved African Americans?
MS. MCENANY: So, I would note on statues that what were seeing across the country is really quite confusing, because youre seeing statues defaced, like Gandhis statue defaced and Ulysses S. Grants statues
Q My question was on Confederate statues.
MS. MCENANY: defaced and abolitionist Matthias Baldwins statue defaced. At the same time
Q My question is on Confederate statues.
MS. MCENANY: were being told that George Washingtons statue needs to come down and Thomas Jeffersons statue needs to come down. Where do you draw the line, you know, from Gandhi, all the way down to George Washington?
And it seems the American people very much agree with the President on this, on not bringing down these statues. Less than a third of those polled, according to Morning Consult, think these statues should be taken down; 61 percent oppose it. According to Marist, 62 percent according
Q Are you going to answer the question about what you say to Americans who are offended by them?
MS. MCENANY: according to Marist.
So I would point that out and I would say that, when people watch these statue defacements and the beheading of some of these statues, like Christopher Columbus, where do you draw the line? Because apparently the line goes all the way to Gandhi.
Yes.
Q So this means and then my second
MS. MCENANY: Chanel.
Q Sorry, my second question is: Going back to the issue of Kung flu, I spoke to Kellyanne Conway in March. She said that it was highly offensive and wrong to use that term. Does the President agree with Kellyanne Conway? Or is he now saying that that term is not highly offensive and wrong? Because again, that was Kellyanne Conways own words, saying Kung flu is wrong.
MS. MCENANY: The President does not believe that its offensive to note that this virus came from China and to stand up for our U.S. military
Q Its not noting that it came from China. Its Kung flu.
MS. MCENANY: who China is making an active effort to completely defame, and that is unacceptable to the President.
Q So, youre okay
MS. MCENANY: Chanel.
Q Thank you, Kayleigh.
Q Again, just to go back to what I said on
Q On John Boltons book
Q as I said on Kellyanne Conway, she said that it was wrong and offensive. Are you saying that she was wrong to say that?
MS. MCENANY: Chanel.
Q Are you saying that she was wrong to say that?
Q Kayleigh, on John Bolton and his book: If he goes unprosecuted, does the administration feel that this would set or does it fear that this would set a precedent or embolden public servants to violate their oaths to this nation for political purposes?
MS. MCENANY: Absolutely, thats a concern. Look, the information in John Boltons book was classified information, as confirmed by the most senior national security and intelligence officials.
And, look, you have NSA Director Nakasone saying that this could cause permanent loss of a valuable source intelligence source and damage to the U.S. intelligence system; DNI Ratcliffe saying virtually the same. You have another government official saying the unauthorized disclosure of this information could reasonably be expected to enable foreign threat actors.
This is the seriousness with which we look at this book and the NSC looks at this book as they scan it for classified information. There is real damage that can be done. And for what? For self-promotion and publicity of a failed NSA Director.
Q On Venezuela, also: Can I ask about Maduro and Guaidó? Why has President Trump seemed to have lost confidence in Juan Guaidó?
MS. MCENANY: He has not lost confidence at all, and that tweet that I read to you very clearly says that that the President put out this morning. We stand with the Venezuelan people in their fight for freedom.
And I would also note how tough this President has been on Maduro, by recognizing Juan Guaidó. And when you compare that to the Obama-Biden administration, you had the former Vice President, Joe Biden, who actually met with the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro, and complimented his hair, according to Yahoo News. If I had your hair, Id be President of the United States, the former Vice President said. And also the Obama State Department helped stabilize the Maduro regime by blocking sanctions, according to a 2017 Miami Herald report.
So when you compare the actions of this President, weve stood against socialism and on the side of freedom.
And finally, one thing that I just want to point out that was handed to me wow, a whopping 7.7 million total viewers turned tuned into Fox News to watch the rally on Saturday night. Big numbers.
Thanks so much guys.
END
1:50 P.M. EDT
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Press Briefing by Kayleigh McEnany; June 22, 2020 (Original Post)
mahatmakanejeeves
Jun 2020
OP
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,438 posts)1. Chanel? I believe you had something to add.
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OAN correspondent attacks Tulsa fire marshal: "The full half of that arena was packed" https://mediamatters.org/one-america-news-network/oan-correspondent-attacks-tulsa-fire-marshal-full-half-arena-was-packed
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