White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany is making it clear, President Donald Trump never misled the American people on the coronavirus pandemic.
During her press briefing on Wednesday, a reporter asked McEnany if Trump intentionally misled the public about the threat of the coronavirus.
McEnany fired back, “The president has never lied to the American public on COVID.”
She added, “The president was expressing calm, and his actions reflect that.”
Watch her comments below:
"The president has never lied to the American public on Covid" — Kaleigh McEnany (Trump in fact said coronavirus would go away on its own without anyone dying 190,000 deaths ago) pic.twitter.com/irsvNEUz7a
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 9, 2020
The reporter pressed McEnany on a comment Trump made to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward during a March phone call.
The president said, “I wanted to always play it down.”
She asked McEnany if playing it down is expressing calm, and suggested it seems dishonest.
She argued the reporter excluded the last part of the quote.
“He makes clear that he doesn’t want to see chaos, by the way, is the second part of the quote which you failed to read,” McEnany said.
She added, “The president just days after having this discussion with Bob Woodward said this from this podium on March 30, he said, ‘I do want them to stay calm. We are doing a great job if you look at the individual statements they’re all true. Stay calm, it will go away, but it’s important to stay calm.'”
McEnany told the reporter Trump did what any good leader would do which is to “stay calm” and “resolute” when “you face an insurmountable challenge.”
She noted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Wuhan travel notice on Jan. 6 before there were any confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States.
McEnany quoted Dr. Anthony Fauci saying Trump has “an impressive response” and he “can’t imagine under any circumstance that anyone could be doing anything more.”
Woodward’s book “Rage” is scheduled to be released on Sept. 15 and includes 18 interviews between the reporter and Trump, as IJR previously reported.
