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Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany; May 6, 2020
Last edited Thu May 7, 2020, 04:12 PM - Edit history (1)
How much do you want to bet that the quotes from the newspapers came from opinion pieces? {will add later}
PRESS BRIEFINGS
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany
Issued on: May 6, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
4:32 P.M. EDT
MS. MCENANY: Good afternoon, everyone. I’d like to direct your attention to a very encouraging graph regarding test results. It’ll be over my shoulder and hopefully on the screen for those of you watching on television. As this chart shows, the United States has, to date, completed 7.5 million coronavirus tests. It’s an extraordinary number. And, as you can see, the United States leads the world in testing.
{snip}
And with that, I’ll take questions.
Q Thanks, Kayleigh. Just to get back to this decision that was supposedly coming yesterday: Whose idea was it initially to wind down the White House Coronavirus Task Force?
MS. MCENANY: Look, I would just refer you back to the President’s comments. He’s been asked this, like, four times today, I believe. He decided that Coronavirus Task Force is here to stay. They’ve done great work. I’ve witnessed it. I’m in the Coronavirus Task Force meetings and they’ve gotten our country through this. There were supposed to be 2.2 million deaths, and we’re at a point where we’re far lower than that. And it’s thanks — thanks to the great work of the task force and to the leadership of President Trump.
Q But whose idea was it initially to wind it down?
MS. MCENANY: Again, I’m not going further. The President has answered this four times today.
{snip}
Q Thanks, Kayleigh. The President said yesterday he does not want Dr. Fauci testifying before the House because it’s filled with “Trump haters.” How is that consistent with oversight and transparency?
MS. MCENANY: Well, first of all, what the President noted was specific to the House. It’s important to note that Dr. Fauci will be testifying before the Senate, which means he will be fielding questions from both Democrats and Republicans. The House, however — and specifically Chairwoman Nita Lowey’s committee — did not act in good faith.
Mark Meadows had three calls with Chairwoman Nita Lowey three nights ago, when she called to ask if Dr. Fauci could testify before a subcommittee hearing. And Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has made clear he wants to make the best use he can of the task force members’ time. Of course, they’re working hard to save American lives, so that’s very important.
So to that end, he said, in the three phone calls, “You know, what is the purpose of this hearing? Can you give me the subject matter?” And Lowey was unable to tell the Chief of Staff what the subject matter was.
The last phone call they had was at 10:46 p.m. on that evening, and Lowey agreed to follow up in the morning with details. Those details were never received. Instead, we got a press release. So that’s what we call a publicity stunt. We encourage the House to act in good faith, but — much like the Senate did.
And as I noted, Dr. Fauci will be speaking in a — in a week and a half before the Senate. So the notion that he’s being blocked is just farcical.
Q Let me ask you on just one another — can I ask you one other topic, Kayleigh?
MS. MCENANY: Someone I haven’t heard from. Back there.
Q All right, thank you. Does the President have doubts about the way the death toll is being calculated? Does he think, perhaps, the — the true toll is lower?
THE PRESIDENT: So the President answered this, and he said, “No,” just a few moments ago in the Oval Office.
On the mortality rate, I would note, as I noted just a few moments ago, we have one of the lowest in the world — mortality rates. It’s because of the hard work of the American people.
Our mor- — our mortality rate — excuse me — is currently 218 per million. You compare that to Spain’s, at 548 per million; Italy, at 485 per million. This country is in a place where, because of the work of the American people, we have escaped that 2.2 million number because of the extraordinary social distancing effort put in place by the American people.
{snip}
Yeah. Way in the back.
Q Thank you. The President has said many times that he has received praise in phone calls with foreign leaders because of this administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. Who exactly are those heads of states and heads of government who are praising this administration for its response?
MS. MCENANY: Well, I — I won’t reveal any contents of his private conversations with world leaders, but I will certainly share some of the very public comments from Democrat governors — like Gavin Newsom, who said, “Every single direct request that President Trump — that he was given, President Trump was capable of meeting. He has met them.”
Governor Phil Murphy, Democrat from New Jersey: “The President knows New Jersey. He and his team have been extremely responsive in our hour of need, whether it was ventilators. We got a huge amount of supplies to test.”
And, of course, I — I love the ones from Governor Andrew Cuomo, who praised this administration’s phen- — response as phenomenal, saying: “He’s delivered for New York. The Army Corps of Engineers, we built thousands of beds, he sent the Navy ship Comfort to New York — he has delivered for New York.” President Trump has delivered for this nation.
Yes.
Q Thanks, Kayleigh. The President was talking earlier about Dr. Bright being a disgruntled employee. One of the allegations in that whistleblower complaint is that, in January, when there was still a huge shortage of N95 masks, that he had — excuse me — been in contact with a company that was offering up to a million of those masks, and he couldn’t get anybody at HHS willing to engage with that company, which then subsequently exported one million N95s to China. Is that something that you’re looking into or concerned about?
MS. MCENANY: Look, I — on issues of Dr. Bright, I’d refer you to HHS. I’m not going to get involved with the personnel issues or the substance of that complaint. But I will, once again, note — you mentioned masks — 70 million-plus delivered. And again, that’s three times the amount used by healthcare providers in any given year. So we’ve done a — a rather good job when it comes to supplies.
{snip}
Chanel?
Q Thank you, Secretary McEnany. To — going back to a topic about the House: In a separate chamber, Acting DNI Rick Grenell has stated this week that he is prepared to release about 6,000 pages worth of transcripts relating to Adam Schiff’s probe. Can you confirm whether or not the executive branch is conducting any kind of investigation into House members or potential of wrongdoing? Or is that something you can comment on yet?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, I don’t have any information on that subject matter. That’s the first I’m hearing of that.
Jon.
Q If I could just go back to Jeff’s question about Dr. Fauci and then the President’s statement that — that there are too many “Trump Haters” in — in the House. I mean, does — does the White House really believe that you can decide to have officials testify in the Republican-controlled Senate, but not testify in the Democratic-controlled House? Doesn’t the House have legitimate oversight and — and legitimate responsibility, not just — not just the, you know, authority, but responsibility to have somebody like Anthony Fauci testify?
MS. MCENANY: Will Dr. Fauci be questioned by Democrats in that Senate hearing?
Q Yes, he will be. So what — so why —
MS. MCENANY: Yes he will.
Q But — but are you saying — so the Senate is fine? The House has no role in oversight?
MS. MCENANY: The House needs to act in good faith. We don’t have time, in the middle of a pandemic, for publicity stunts. It’s not the time for that. It’s not the place for that. In the course of —
Q This is a congressional testimony. This isn’t a —
MS. MCENANY: In the course of three phone calls, you should be able to give the subject matter to ensure it’s the best use of Dr. Fauci’s time. As you yourself noted, in the Republican-controlled Senate, Dr. Fauci will indeed be asked questions by Democrats.
Q Is the subject matter a mystery? I mean —
MS. MCENANY: Jeff?
Q Kayleigh, in a previous life, before you were Press Secretary, you worked for the campaign. And you made a comment, I believe, on Fox, in which you said, “President Trump will not allow the coronavirus to come to this country.” Given what has happened since then, obviously, would you like to take that back?
MS. MCENANY: Well, first, let me note I was asked a question on Fox Business about the President’s travel restrictions. I noted what was the intent behind those travel restrictions, which is: We will not see the coronavirus come here. We will not see terrorism come here — referring to an earlier set of travel restrictions.
I guess I would turn the question back on the media, and ask similar questions: Does Vox want to take back that they proclaimed that the coronavirus would not be a deadly pandemic? Does the Washington Post want to take back that they told Americans to “Get a Grippe,” the flu is bigger than the coronavirus? Does the Washington Post, likewise, want to take back that our brains are causing us to exaggerate the threat of the coronavirus? Does the New York Times want to take back that fear of the virus maybe spre- — spreading faster than the virus itself? Does NPR want to take back that the flu was a much bigger threat than the coronavirus? And finally, once again, the Washington Post — would they like to take back that the government should not respond aggressively to the coronavirus?
I’ll leave you with those questions and maybe you’ll have some answers in a few days.
END 5:00 P.M. EDT
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany
Issued on: May 6, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
4:32 P.M. EDT
MS. MCENANY: Good afternoon, everyone. I’d like to direct your attention to a very encouraging graph regarding test results. It’ll be over my shoulder and hopefully on the screen for those of you watching on television. As this chart shows, the United States has, to date, completed 7.5 million coronavirus tests. It’s an extraordinary number. And, as you can see, the United States leads the world in testing.
{snip}
And with that, I’ll take questions.
Q Thanks, Kayleigh. Just to get back to this decision that was supposedly coming yesterday: Whose idea was it initially to wind down the White House Coronavirus Task Force?
MS. MCENANY: Look, I would just refer you back to the President’s comments. He’s been asked this, like, four times today, I believe. He decided that Coronavirus Task Force is here to stay. They’ve done great work. I’ve witnessed it. I’m in the Coronavirus Task Force meetings and they’ve gotten our country through this. There were supposed to be 2.2 million deaths, and we’re at a point where we’re far lower than that. And it’s thanks — thanks to the great work of the task force and to the leadership of President Trump.
Q But whose idea was it initially to wind it down?
MS. MCENANY: Again, I’m not going further. The President has answered this four times today.
{snip}
Q Thanks, Kayleigh. The President said yesterday he does not want Dr. Fauci testifying before the House because it’s filled with “Trump haters.” How is that consistent with oversight and transparency?
MS. MCENANY: Well, first of all, what the President noted was specific to the House. It’s important to note that Dr. Fauci will be testifying before the Senate, which means he will be fielding questions from both Democrats and Republicans. The House, however — and specifically Chairwoman Nita Lowey’s committee — did not act in good faith.
Mark Meadows had three calls with Chairwoman Nita Lowey three nights ago, when she called to ask if Dr. Fauci could testify before a subcommittee hearing. And Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has made clear he wants to make the best use he can of the task force members’ time. Of course, they’re working hard to save American lives, so that’s very important.
So to that end, he said, in the three phone calls, “You know, what is the purpose of this hearing? Can you give me the subject matter?” And Lowey was unable to tell the Chief of Staff what the subject matter was.
The last phone call they had was at 10:46 p.m. on that evening, and Lowey agreed to follow up in the morning with details. Those details were never received. Instead, we got a press release. So that’s what we call a publicity stunt. We encourage the House to act in good faith, but — much like the Senate did.
And as I noted, Dr. Fauci will be speaking in a — in a week and a half before the Senate. So the notion that he’s being blocked is just farcical.
Q Let me ask you on just one another — can I ask you one other topic, Kayleigh?
MS. MCENANY: Someone I haven’t heard from. Back there.
Q All right, thank you. Does the President have doubts about the way the death toll is being calculated? Does he think, perhaps, the — the true toll is lower?
THE PRESIDENT: So the President answered this, and he said, “No,” just a few moments ago in the Oval Office.
On the mortality rate, I would note, as I noted just a few moments ago, we have one of the lowest in the world — mortality rates. It’s because of the hard work of the American people.
Our mor- — our mortality rate — excuse me — is currently 218 per million. You compare that to Spain’s, at 548 per million; Italy, at 485 per million. This country is in a place where, because of the work of the American people, we have escaped that 2.2 million number because of the extraordinary social distancing effort put in place by the American people.
{snip}
Yeah. Way in the back.
Q Thank you. The President has said many times that he has received praise in phone calls with foreign leaders because of this administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. Who exactly are those heads of states and heads of government who are praising this administration for its response?
MS. MCENANY: Well, I — I won’t reveal any contents of his private conversations with world leaders, but I will certainly share some of the very public comments from Democrat governors — like Gavin Newsom, who said, “Every single direct request that President Trump — that he was given, President Trump was capable of meeting. He has met them.”
Governor Phil Murphy, Democrat from New Jersey: “The President knows New Jersey. He and his team have been extremely responsive in our hour of need, whether it was ventilators. We got a huge amount of supplies to test.”
And, of course, I — I love the ones from Governor Andrew Cuomo, who praised this administration’s phen- — response as phenomenal, saying: “He’s delivered for New York. The Army Corps of Engineers, we built thousands of beds, he sent the Navy ship Comfort to New York — he has delivered for New York.” President Trump has delivered for this nation.
Yes.
Q Thanks, Kayleigh. The President was talking earlier about Dr. Bright being a disgruntled employee. One of the allegations in that whistleblower complaint is that, in January, when there was still a huge shortage of N95 masks, that he had — excuse me — been in contact with a company that was offering up to a million of those masks, and he couldn’t get anybody at HHS willing to engage with that company, which then subsequently exported one million N95s to China. Is that something that you’re looking into or concerned about?
MS. MCENANY: Look, I — on issues of Dr. Bright, I’d refer you to HHS. I’m not going to get involved with the personnel issues or the substance of that complaint. But I will, once again, note — you mentioned masks — 70 million-plus delivered. And again, that’s three times the amount used by healthcare providers in any given year. So we’ve done a — a rather good job when it comes to supplies.
{snip}
Chanel?
Q Thank you, Secretary McEnany. To — going back to a topic about the House: In a separate chamber, Acting DNI Rick Grenell has stated this week that he is prepared to release about 6,000 pages worth of transcripts relating to Adam Schiff’s probe. Can you confirm whether or not the executive branch is conducting any kind of investigation into House members or potential of wrongdoing? Or is that something you can comment on yet?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, I don’t have any information on that subject matter. That’s the first I’m hearing of that.
Jon.
Q If I could just go back to Jeff’s question about Dr. Fauci and then the President’s statement that — that there are too many “Trump Haters” in — in the House. I mean, does — does the White House really believe that you can decide to have officials testify in the Republican-controlled Senate, but not testify in the Democratic-controlled House? Doesn’t the House have legitimate oversight and — and legitimate responsibility, not just — not just the, you know, authority, but responsibility to have somebody like Anthony Fauci testify?
MS. MCENANY: Will Dr. Fauci be questioned by Democrats in that Senate hearing?
Q Yes, he will be. So what — so why —
MS. MCENANY: Yes he will.
Q But — but are you saying — so the Senate is fine? The House has no role in oversight?
MS. MCENANY: The House needs to act in good faith. We don’t have time, in the middle of a pandemic, for publicity stunts. It’s not the time for that. It’s not the place for that. In the course of —
Q This is a congressional testimony. This isn’t a —
MS. MCENANY: In the course of three phone calls, you should be able to give the subject matter to ensure it’s the best use of Dr. Fauci’s time. As you yourself noted, in the Republican-controlled Senate, Dr. Fauci will indeed be asked questions by Democrats.
Q Is the subject matter a mystery? I mean —
MS. MCENANY: Jeff?
Q Kayleigh, in a previous life, before you were Press Secretary, you worked for the campaign. And you made a comment, I believe, on Fox, in which you said, “President Trump will not allow the coronavirus to come to this country.” Given what has happened since then, obviously, would you like to take that back?
MS. MCENANY: Well, first, let me note I was asked a question on Fox Business about the President’s travel restrictions. I noted what was the intent behind those travel restrictions, which is: We will not see the coronavirus come here. We will not see terrorism come here — referring to an earlier set of travel restrictions.
I guess I would turn the question back on the media, and ask similar questions: Does Vox want to take back that they proclaimed that the coronavirus would not be a deadly pandemic? Does the Washington Post want to take back that they told Americans to “Get a Grippe,” the flu is bigger than the coronavirus? Does the Washington Post, likewise, want to take back that our brains are causing us to exaggerate the threat of the coronavirus? Does the New York Times want to take back that fear of the virus maybe spre- — spreading faster than the virus itself? Does NPR want to take back that the flu was a much bigger threat than the coronavirus? And finally, once again, the Washington Post — would they like to take back that the government should not respond aggressively to the coronavirus?
I’ll leave you with those questions and maybe you’ll have some answers in a few days.
END 5:00 P.M. EDT
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