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Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany; May 8, 2020
PRESS BRIEFINGS
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany
Issued on: May 8, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
12:38 P.M. EDT
MS. MCENANY: Good afternoon. Today marks the 75th anniversary of VE Day, a triumphant milestone in our nation’s history and indeed in world history. Seventy-five years ago today, our brave American forces defeated fascism in Europe. And through the selfless devotion of thousands of patriots, they saved the world.
Over 180,000 Americans gave their lives in the European theater during World War Two. And I want to take just a moment to honor their service and their sacrifice. Thank you to all of our veterans. You are truly, truly our heroes.
Now, as I move to my next subject, I want to begin by saying this: Look, our rank-and-file men and women at the FBI are heroes in their own right. They protect this country from domestic crime, and we thank them for their service. They work hard. And once again, we owe them a debt of gratitude. But that is separate and apart from what I’m about to address right now.
The FBI exists to investigate crimes. But in the case of Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, it appears that they might have existed to manufacture one. As the motion filed by the Department of Justice yesterday explained, the FBI set out to interview General Michael Flynn, when they had no predigate [sic] — predicate for any investigation of any crime.
{snip}
And with that, I’ll take questions.
Q Thank you.
MS. MCENANY: Jim, you were so kind on the trip the other day to Honeywell, so you get the first one.
Q Thank you, Kayleigh. And congratulations on becoming Press Secretary.
MS. MCENANY: Thank you.
Q I wanted to ask you, putting aside the situation with Michael Flynn: Today, the unemployment rate hit the highest point since the Great Depression. What is the President’s plan to get this country out of this ditch?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, you know, this President is the “jobs President.” This President got us to a place where we had the lowest [un]employment rate in the history of this country, historic lows for black Americans, Hispanic Americans, the disabled veterans.
As the President has noted, and I think this is right: We had to put a stop to the economy. It was a pause. This wasn’t some, you know, economic catastrophe that organically happened. It was decided upon by the President of the United States to stop the United States economy because we had to save 2.2 million lives — perhaps more, somewhere in that range — because American lives, that’s what mattered most.
And so this President, when faced with this very tough decision to put a pause on the hottest economy in modern history, said American lives matter most. And that’s what he did.
And I can tell you this: The President that got us to the hottest economy in modern history, he’s done it once, and he can do it again.
Q What’s the plan?
MS. MCENANY: We’re going to work with Congress. We’re going to come up with hopefully a phase four. We encourage the House to maybe reconvene soon. It’d be helpful if Nancy Pelosi was here.
But thus far, what we’ve done is the PPP, of course — Paycheck Protection Program — that has really kept a lot of employees on the payroll. Sixty million employees, roughly half of the workforce and private sector in this country, have been kept on payroll thanks to that measure.
But going forward, you know, principles like deregulation, principles like lowering taxes — the President has mentioned a payroll tax pause, which would be a great thing for the American people. There are a lot of proposals being entertained. I don’t want to get ahead of the President, but I can tell you —
Q Isn’t there a problem with — isn’t there a problem though — the President wants people to get back to work; he wants these governors to reopen their states. But if Americans aren’t comfortable going to restaurants and movie theaters, or the beach or whatever, how do you get this economy moving again? What’s the plan?
MS. MCENANY: I can tell you there’s a lot of pent-up demand in this country. There’s a lot of people who do want to go out to restaurants, who do want to go out to movies, who do want to go back to their jobs. We see it and we hear about it every day.
I don’t think that that’s a problem. I think people can trust that we have a President who wants to reopen and reopen safely. These are data-driven guidelines to reopening. The President has those in place, so there’s no reason to be concerned because we have a President who always looks at the data, as Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx have repeatedly noted.
Zeke?
Q Kayleigh, there was a second confirmed case of COVID-19 here at the White House today. Apparently, a member of the Vice President’s staff. That’s two in two days in a building where people are being tested now — including the President and the Vice President — every day, and they’ve had their temperature checked for months here. Why should the average American, whose workplace doesn’t have access to these rapid tests, feel comfortable going to work if the White House isn’t even safe for people?
MS. MCENANY: Well, look, this individual — there is a member of the Vice President’s team who is positive for coronavirus. We have put in place the guidelines that our experts have — experts have put forward to keep this building safe, which means contact tracing. All of the recommended guidelines we have for businesses that have essential workers, we’re now putting in place here in the White House. So as America reopens safely, the White House is continuing to operate safely.
Yes, Jon.
Q Kayleigh, the President, of course, we saw him go down to the World War II Memorial with a group of seven American heroes, all in their 90s. Did he give any consideration to wearing a mask, given that his valet just tested positive and he’s with some of those in the most vulnerable population? Did he — did he consider wearing a mask while he was with these veterans?
MS. MCENANY: Well, this President is regularly tested. This President will make the decision as to whether to wear a mask or not.
I can tell you that those veterans are protected. They made the choice to come here because they’ve chosen to put their nation first. They wanted to be with their Commander-in-Chief on this momentous day. And it was their choice to come here, and I can tell you that the President always puts the safety of our veterans first and of the American people first.
Q Well, how much time — how much exposure has he had to his — his valet? Can you give us a sense of —
MS. MCENANY: I can just tell you that we’ve taken every single precaution to protect the President. The same guidelines that our experts have put in place: We clean the facility, we social distance, we keep people six feet away from one another. So we’ve done every single thing that Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci have asked us to do. And I can assure the American people that their Commander-in-Chief is protected.
{snip}
Yamiche?
Q Hi. Thanks so much for — and congratulations on the new gig.
MS. MCENANY: Thank you.
Q This is my first time seeing you at the podium. I have two quick questions. The first one is about, what’s the possibility of the federal government getting involved in the Ahmaud Arbery case, given that Georgia doesn’t have any hate crime laws? If it’s proven that these men chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery because he was an African American and they racially profiled him, would the Justice Department consider getting involved?
MS. MCENANY: Look, I — first, I want to say that my heart goes out to the family of Ahmaud. I can’t imagine what they’re going through right now. My heart breaks for this family. I know the President’s heart breaks. I’ve spoken to him about that.
And I can tell you we will follow the facts. Right now, as you know, it’s in the court in Georgia. It’s a state matter. But, absolutely, we will be following every detail. I’d refer you to DOJ. But as the facts merit, I’m certain that they’ll be following those facts.
And you had a second question?
Q The second question I have is: In 2015, shortly after
the President said that some Mexican immigrants were rapists and criminals, you said that that language was racist and hateful. Do you still believe that today?
MS. MCENANY: Well, I’m actually glad you asked that because for about the first four weeks of the election, I was watching CNN, and I was naively believing some of the headlines that I saw on CNN and —
Q I think you’re probably going to start reading headlines, but that’s fine. I just want to know if you also personally still believe that.
MS. MCENANY: I’m actually not — I’m actually not going to read the headlines. So I very quickly came around and supported the President. In fact, CNN hired me. I was on many eight-on-one panels where I proudly supported this President who I believe is one of the best presidents, if not the best president this country will ever have.
But I would encourage the individual who did that analysis of my past, rather than focusing on me, he really should be focused on some of the very guests CNN chose to have on their network. He should be focused on — I mean, my — over here, Jim — Jim Clapper who said, you know, 10 days before he privately told investigators there was no evidence of collusion, that Watergate pales in comparison to the Russia probe. I’d encourage them to look at Samantha Powers who’s privately saying: I’m not in possession of any evidence of collusion. Ambassador Rice: I don’t recall intelligence or evidence of any collusion. Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch: I do not recall that being briefed to me.
And for three years — two years — probably more than that — CNN ran with the collusion narrative. And if the American people are watching right now, you’re probably very confused as to some of the quotes I read, because those individuals were saying much different things publicly than they were saying privately. And I’m very grateful that those transcripts were released yesterday. And perhaps the KFile should do an analysis of that.
Yes, Ebony?
Q Respectfully, are you walking back those comments today at all?
MS. MCENANY: I support —
Q Or do you stand by those comments that you made?
MS. MCENANY: I support this President. There is no questioning that. I’m so honored to work for him.
And, Ebony, next question.
Q Thank you. On the Michael Flynn case, Kayleigh, documents released yesterday suggest members of the intelligence community tried to keep the case against Michael Flynn ongoing. I’m wondering if you think there should be an investigation and whether the administration is considering bringing charges against people like James Clapper and Peter Strzok.
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, I’d refer you to the DOJ on that, but I would say there were some very, very questionable actions that happened in this case, and I took you through a number of them. And I do think the American people deserve answers, but I leave it to the Justice Department as to how to get those answers.
Yes.
Q Thank you, Kayleigh. Has the President spoken to Michael Flynn since this news yesterday? And do you expect that he will visit the White House? Is that something that’s being planned?
MS. MCENANY: I’m not aware of any conversations that have taken place and not aware of any future plans that would regard Michael Flynn.
Q Could I ask one more? Larry Kudlow said today that negotiations on the next stimulus are at a lull right now. Given where the numbers are on unemployment, from your perspective, from the White House perspective, why is it at a lull right now?
MS. MCENANY: Well, look, I think Nancy Pelosi should explore coming back and having the House come back and having those discussions. We know the Senate is here. I think it’s important for us to move and look at a phase four. The President thinks so too.
So those negotiations will happen. But a big part of that is, you know, we need the House; we need Nancy Pelosi to come back from California and get to Washington, D.C., and to work for the American people.
Yeah.
Q Thank you. And congratulations on your new role.
MS. MCENANY: Thank you very much.
Q Yeah. Following up on Jim’s questions about getting back the economy — getting the economy started again, does the President see the CDC guidelines as an obstacle to getting the company — getting the country back up and running again? And if it does not see the CDC guidelines as an obstacle, why not release those guidelines to the public and also follow them as we move forward?
MS. MCENANY: So, I assume you’re talking about the guidelines that were widely reported about yesterday, about daycares —
Q Yes.
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, so I would ask you, you know, what’s the definition of CDC guidelines? Is it something that the CDC director has actually seen? I would endeavor to say yes. Is it something that a rogue CDC employee leaks to you guys? No, those aren’t CDC guidelines; those are guidelines in draft form that a rogue employee has given you for whatever personal reason they’ve decided to do that. Those guidelines are in the editing process.
We want the American people to get as much information as they can possibly have at this time. That’s why we have the phased reopening guidelines, the data-driven guidelines. Those CDC guidelines are going through an editing process. And when we have those, you guys will be the first to know.
How are we on time, Alyssa?
AIDE: (Inaudible.)
MS. MCENANY: Okay. What — sorry —
AIDE: Two to one. Two minutes to one.
MS. MCENANY: Oh, two minutes to one. I’m sorry to cut this short, but as you know, you guys were supposed to be, three minutes ago, with the President of the United States. So I will leave you guys with that.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend. And thanks so much everyone.
Q Why did you spend the first part of this briefing talking about Mike Flynn —
MS. MCENANY: Justice matters.
Q — when both the President and Vice President were exposed to coronavirus and we have historic unemployment?
END
12:58 P.M. EDT
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany
Issued on: May 8, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
12:38 P.M. EDT
MS. MCENANY: Good afternoon. Today marks the 75th anniversary of VE Day, a triumphant milestone in our nation’s history and indeed in world history. Seventy-five years ago today, our brave American forces defeated fascism in Europe. And through the selfless devotion of thousands of patriots, they saved the world.
Over 180,000 Americans gave their lives in the European theater during World War Two. And I want to take just a moment to honor their service and their sacrifice. Thank you to all of our veterans. You are truly, truly our heroes.
Now, as I move to my next subject, I want to begin by saying this: Look, our rank-and-file men and women at the FBI are heroes in their own right. They protect this country from domestic crime, and we thank them for their service. They work hard. And once again, we owe them a debt of gratitude. But that is separate and apart from what I’m about to address right now.
The FBI exists to investigate crimes. But in the case of Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, it appears that they might have existed to manufacture one. As the motion filed by the Department of Justice yesterday explained, the FBI set out to interview General Michael Flynn, when they had no predigate [sic] — predicate for any investigation of any crime.
{snip}
And with that, I’ll take questions.
Q Thank you.
MS. MCENANY: Jim, you were so kind on the trip the other day to Honeywell, so you get the first one.
Q Thank you, Kayleigh. And congratulations on becoming Press Secretary.
MS. MCENANY: Thank you.
Q I wanted to ask you, putting aside the situation with Michael Flynn: Today, the unemployment rate hit the highest point since the Great Depression. What is the President’s plan to get this country out of this ditch?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, you know, this President is the “jobs President.” This President got us to a place where we had the lowest [un]employment rate in the history of this country, historic lows for black Americans, Hispanic Americans, the disabled veterans.
As the President has noted, and I think this is right: We had to put a stop to the economy. It was a pause. This wasn’t some, you know, economic catastrophe that organically happened. It was decided upon by the President of the United States to stop the United States economy because we had to save 2.2 million lives — perhaps more, somewhere in that range — because American lives, that’s what mattered most.
And so this President, when faced with this very tough decision to put a pause on the hottest economy in modern history, said American lives matter most. And that’s what he did.
And I can tell you this: The President that got us to the hottest economy in modern history, he’s done it once, and he can do it again.
Q What’s the plan?
MS. MCENANY: We’re going to work with Congress. We’re going to come up with hopefully a phase four. We encourage the House to maybe reconvene soon. It’d be helpful if Nancy Pelosi was here.
But thus far, what we’ve done is the PPP, of course — Paycheck Protection Program — that has really kept a lot of employees on the payroll. Sixty million employees, roughly half of the workforce and private sector in this country, have been kept on payroll thanks to that measure.
But going forward, you know, principles like deregulation, principles like lowering taxes — the President has mentioned a payroll tax pause, which would be a great thing for the American people. There are a lot of proposals being entertained. I don’t want to get ahead of the President, but I can tell you —
Q Isn’t there a problem with — isn’t there a problem though — the President wants people to get back to work; he wants these governors to reopen their states. But if Americans aren’t comfortable going to restaurants and movie theaters, or the beach or whatever, how do you get this economy moving again? What’s the plan?
MS. MCENANY: I can tell you there’s a lot of pent-up demand in this country. There’s a lot of people who do want to go out to restaurants, who do want to go out to movies, who do want to go back to their jobs. We see it and we hear about it every day.
I don’t think that that’s a problem. I think people can trust that we have a President who wants to reopen and reopen safely. These are data-driven guidelines to reopening. The President has those in place, so there’s no reason to be concerned because we have a President who always looks at the data, as Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx have repeatedly noted.
Zeke?
Q Kayleigh, there was a second confirmed case of COVID-19 here at the White House today. Apparently, a member of the Vice President’s staff. That’s two in two days in a building where people are being tested now — including the President and the Vice President — every day, and they’ve had their temperature checked for months here. Why should the average American, whose workplace doesn’t have access to these rapid tests, feel comfortable going to work if the White House isn’t even safe for people?
MS. MCENANY: Well, look, this individual — there is a member of the Vice President’s team who is positive for coronavirus. We have put in place the guidelines that our experts have — experts have put forward to keep this building safe, which means contact tracing. All of the recommended guidelines we have for businesses that have essential workers, we’re now putting in place here in the White House. So as America reopens safely, the White House is continuing to operate safely.
Yes, Jon.
Q Kayleigh, the President, of course, we saw him go down to the World War II Memorial with a group of seven American heroes, all in their 90s. Did he give any consideration to wearing a mask, given that his valet just tested positive and he’s with some of those in the most vulnerable population? Did he — did he consider wearing a mask while he was with these veterans?
MS. MCENANY: Well, this President is regularly tested. This President will make the decision as to whether to wear a mask or not.
I can tell you that those veterans are protected. They made the choice to come here because they’ve chosen to put their nation first. They wanted to be with their Commander-in-Chief on this momentous day. And it was their choice to come here, and I can tell you that the President always puts the safety of our veterans first and of the American people first.
Q Well, how much time — how much exposure has he had to his — his valet? Can you give us a sense of —
MS. MCENANY: I can just tell you that we’ve taken every single precaution to protect the President. The same guidelines that our experts have put in place: We clean the facility, we social distance, we keep people six feet away from one another. So we’ve done every single thing that Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci have asked us to do. And I can assure the American people that their Commander-in-Chief is protected.
{snip}
Yamiche?
Q Hi. Thanks so much for — and congratulations on the new gig.
MS. MCENANY: Thank you.
Q This is my first time seeing you at the podium. I have two quick questions. The first one is about, what’s the possibility of the federal government getting involved in the Ahmaud Arbery case, given that Georgia doesn’t have any hate crime laws? If it’s proven that these men chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery because he was an African American and they racially profiled him, would the Justice Department consider getting involved?
MS. MCENANY: Look, I — first, I want to say that my heart goes out to the family of Ahmaud. I can’t imagine what they’re going through right now. My heart breaks for this family. I know the President’s heart breaks. I’ve spoken to him about that.
And I can tell you we will follow the facts. Right now, as you know, it’s in the court in Georgia. It’s a state matter. But, absolutely, we will be following every detail. I’d refer you to DOJ. But as the facts merit, I’m certain that they’ll be following those facts.
And you had a second question?
Q The second question I have is: In 2015, shortly after
the President said that some Mexican immigrants were rapists and criminals, you said that that language was racist and hateful. Do you still believe that today?
MS. MCENANY: Well, I’m actually glad you asked that because for about the first four weeks of the election, I was watching CNN, and I was naively believing some of the headlines that I saw on CNN and —
Q I think you’re probably going to start reading headlines, but that’s fine. I just want to know if you also personally still believe that.
MS. MCENANY: I’m actually not — I’m actually not going to read the headlines. So I very quickly came around and supported the President. In fact, CNN hired me. I was on many eight-on-one panels where I proudly supported this President who I believe is one of the best presidents, if not the best president this country will ever have.
But I would encourage the individual who did that analysis of my past, rather than focusing on me, he really should be focused on some of the very guests CNN chose to have on their network. He should be focused on — I mean, my — over here, Jim — Jim Clapper who said, you know, 10 days before he privately told investigators there was no evidence of collusion, that Watergate pales in comparison to the Russia probe. I’d encourage them to look at Samantha Powers who’s privately saying: I’m not in possession of any evidence of collusion. Ambassador Rice: I don’t recall intelligence or evidence of any collusion. Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch: I do not recall that being briefed to me.
And for three years — two years — probably more than that — CNN ran with the collusion narrative. And if the American people are watching right now, you’re probably very confused as to some of the quotes I read, because those individuals were saying much different things publicly than they were saying privately. And I’m very grateful that those transcripts were released yesterday. And perhaps the KFile should do an analysis of that.
Yes, Ebony?
Q Respectfully, are you walking back those comments today at all?
MS. MCENANY: I support —
Q Or do you stand by those comments that you made?
MS. MCENANY: I support this President. There is no questioning that. I’m so honored to work for him.
And, Ebony, next question.
Q Thank you. On the Michael Flynn case, Kayleigh, documents released yesterday suggest members of the intelligence community tried to keep the case against Michael Flynn ongoing. I’m wondering if you think there should be an investigation and whether the administration is considering bringing charges against people like James Clapper and Peter Strzok.
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, I’d refer you to the DOJ on that, but I would say there were some very, very questionable actions that happened in this case, and I took you through a number of them. And I do think the American people deserve answers, but I leave it to the Justice Department as to how to get those answers.
Yes.
Q Thank you, Kayleigh. Has the President spoken to Michael Flynn since this news yesterday? And do you expect that he will visit the White House? Is that something that’s being planned?
MS. MCENANY: I’m not aware of any conversations that have taken place and not aware of any future plans that would regard Michael Flynn.
Q Could I ask one more? Larry Kudlow said today that negotiations on the next stimulus are at a lull right now. Given where the numbers are on unemployment, from your perspective, from the White House perspective, why is it at a lull right now?
MS. MCENANY: Well, look, I think Nancy Pelosi should explore coming back and having the House come back and having those discussions. We know the Senate is here. I think it’s important for us to move and look at a phase four. The President thinks so too.
So those negotiations will happen. But a big part of that is, you know, we need the House; we need Nancy Pelosi to come back from California and get to Washington, D.C., and to work for the American people.
Yeah.
Q Thank you. And congratulations on your new role.
MS. MCENANY: Thank you very much.
Q Yeah. Following up on Jim’s questions about getting back the economy — getting the economy started again, does the President see the CDC guidelines as an obstacle to getting the company — getting the country back up and running again? And if it does not see the CDC guidelines as an obstacle, why not release those guidelines to the public and also follow them as we move forward?
MS. MCENANY: So, I assume you’re talking about the guidelines that were widely reported about yesterday, about daycares —
Q Yes.
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, so I would ask you, you know, what’s the definition of CDC guidelines? Is it something that the CDC director has actually seen? I would endeavor to say yes. Is it something that a rogue CDC employee leaks to you guys? No, those aren’t CDC guidelines; those are guidelines in draft form that a rogue employee has given you for whatever personal reason they’ve decided to do that. Those guidelines are in the editing process.
We want the American people to get as much information as they can possibly have at this time. That’s why we have the phased reopening guidelines, the data-driven guidelines. Those CDC guidelines are going through an editing process. And when we have those, you guys will be the first to know.
How are we on time, Alyssa?
AIDE: (Inaudible.)
MS. MCENANY: Okay. What — sorry —
AIDE: Two to one. Two minutes to one.
MS. MCENANY: Oh, two minutes to one. I’m sorry to cut this short, but as you know, you guys were supposed to be, three minutes ago, with the President of the United States. So I will leave you guys with that.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend. And thanks so much everyone.
Q Why did you spend the first part of this briefing talking about Mike Flynn —
MS. MCENANY: Justice matters.
Q — when both the President and Vice President were exposed to coronavirus and we have historic unemployment?
END
12:58 P.M. EDT
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