Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany Press Conference Transcript June 10

Kayleigh McEnany: (00:11) I want to read this to the American public, directly from the President. It has been suggested that we should rename as many as 10 of our legendary military bases, such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Benning in Georgia, and the list goes on. These monumental and very powerful bases have become part of a great American heritage and a history of winning, victory and freedom. The United States of America trained and deployed our heroes here and won two World Wars. Therefore, my administration will not even consider the renaming of these magnificent and fabled military installations. Our history as the greatest nation in the world will not be tampered with. Respect our military. Kayleigh McEnany: (00:51) So, that was directly from the President. We spent some time working on that and I wanted to deliver that to you. Also, I wanted to take us through a few other things relating to the coronavirus. First, the Coronavirus Task Force briefing was held yesterday. I was in it, and there was some very good news that I'd like to share with you. Kayleigh McEnany: (01:08) I don't know if you all saw, there were two studies that came out. Very strong studies in the journal, Nature, and in Europe, which had a very similar epidemic profile to the United States. 3.1 million lives were saved due to mitigation and the efforts taken by the European governments. And as Dr. Birx noted to me, she sent this to me just before I walked out here, she said, "It suggests that the United States also prevented over three million deaths thanks to the efforts of President Trump and the American people." Kayleigh McEnany: (01:37) Another study found that the shutdown efforts prevented 50 million additional coronavirus cases. So, those are two very encouraging studies, underscoring the work of the American people. Also, the Washington Post noted that these two reports use completely different methods to reach similar conclusions. They suggest that the aggressive and unprecedented shutdowns were effective at halting the exponential spread of the novel coronavirus. Kayleigh McEnany: (02:04) So thank you, Washington Post for that good reporting. The Department of Agriculture Secretary, Sonny Perdue, also had some very good news in the task force briefing I was at yesterday. America's meat packing facilities, at one time, it looked like they were going to need to close. That was unacceptable to the Administration, so we took action. The Coronavirus Task Force took action. And now I'm pleased to report that these meat packing facilities are operating at 95% capacity compared to 2019. We have beef operating at 98% capacity, pork at 95%, and poultry at 98%. Kayleigh McEnany: (02:38) Throughout America's extraordinary efforts to slow the spread, President Trump ensured that the meat supply chain stayed functional and robust by directing these meat packing facilities to safely operate in accordance with the CDC and OSHA guidelines. His efforts secured America's continual access to a steady food supply chain. Kayleigh McEnany: (02:57) And then finally, and very importantly, I have some great data points to share on coronavirus testing capacity in minority communities. Admiral Brett Giroir shared this with me yesterday and last night as well. He said that when we look at testing sites, President Trump's public-private partnership with retail companies has proven quite successful. Testing sites are operating in 49 states, with 70% of these sites located in communities with moderate to high social vulnerabilities. And social vulnerability takes into account race, ethnicity, housing and economics, language barriers, and other factors. Kayleigh McEnany: (03:32) Also Federally Qualified Health Centers, their FQHCs, served 29 million patients in 12,000 communities across the nation. They provide care to one in five of those uninsured, one in five in rural Americans, one in three of individuals below the poverty line, and more than 1.3 million homeless men and women, and nearly a million migrant agricultural workers. And 92% of these FQHCs now offer COVID test and we've awarded them $583 million to 1,385 of these facilities. Kayleigh McEnany: (04:07) And finally, finally, I promise my last announcement, the HHS Office of Minority Health issued a competitive funding opportunity to build a strategic network of national state territory, tribal, local, and community-based organizations that deliver vital health information and support linkages to services for racial and ethnic minorities. And this announcement, this network is scheduled to be awarded at the end of June, and is expected to reach at least 40 million individuals from racial and ethnic minorities. These updates, I was told by Brett Giroir, were received very well at the Senate hearings. And we thank the Vice President, Mike Pence for doing an amazing job leading our Coronavirus Task Force, and to President Trump, who has led in bringing in America through the coronavirus pandemic. And with that, I'll take questions. Kristen? Kristen: (04:57) Kayleigh, thank you so much. Does the President regret tweeting out a baseless conspiracy theory about a 75 year old protester on the morning, George Floyd's funeral? Kayleigh McEnany: (05:06) The President was asking questions about an interaction in a video clip he saw, and the President has the right to ask those questions. Kristen: (05:14) But does he regret tweeting out this protester was assaulted? Kayleigh McEnany: (05:17) The President does not regret standing up for law enforcement men and women across this country. And let me say this and just give you a little bit about the mindset behind the President's tweet. Look, we are living in a moment that is, it seems to be reflexively anti-police officer, and it's unacceptable to the President. In this tweet that he sent out, he was in no way condoning violence. He was not passing judgment on these two officers in particular. But what he was saying is this, "When we see a brief snippet of a video, it's incumbent upon reporters, and those who are surveying the situation to ask questions, rather [crosstalk 00:00:05:51]- Kristen: (05:51) ... upon the President to have the facts before he tweets anything out? He's the President of the United States. Kayleigh McEnany: (05:55) The President did have facts before he tweeted it out. That undergirded his question [crosstalk 00:05:59]- Kristen: (05:59) It was baseless conspiracy theory, do you acknowledge that? Kayleigh McEnany: (06:00) It's not a baseless conspiracy theory. No, not at all. I won't acknowledge that because look, you had ... Let's contrast this to the George Floyd situation, which that horrific video that we all saw. Every single police officer that I saw across the country came out and said, "This is an inexcusable action and I condemn this police officer." In this case, there were 57 police officers who said, "I resign in protest over the way these two officers were handled." And the President says, "Those law enforcement officers have a right to be heard." Kristen: (06:29) But did the President think that- Kayleigh McEnany: (06:30) John. Kristen: (06:30) ... anything justifies that 75 year old man being pushed down to the ground like we all saw on the video? Kayleigh McEnany: (06:36) The President does not condone violence. He wants to see the appropriate amount of police force used in any given situation, including this one. But he believes that the officers have a right to be heard. Kristen: (06:46) George Floyd's brother is here testifying. Has the White House invited him here to meet with the President? Kayleigh McEnany: (06:51) The President has repeatedly acknowledged George Floyd, his passing, the egregiousness of that atrocity, and has called the family by phone as he did last week. Yes. John: (06:59) And the President has got an event tomorrow in Dallas at a church in which he'll meet with faith leaders. He'll also meet with law enforcement officials, small business owners. The theme is a plan for holistic revitalization and recovery. Will the President be announcing any policy in regards to police reform tomorrow and what might that policy form? Kayleigh McEnany: (07:19) Yeah, so that's a very important question. And as it stands currently, the President has spent the last 10 days quietly and diligently working on proposals to address the issues that the protesters have raised across the country, legitimate issues. And that body of work, I'm told is reaching its final edits, and we hope to produce it for you in the coming days. I can't promise you it's tomorrow, but in the coming days, we look to deliver that. John: (07:43) So, what then will tomorrow be about? Will it be a listening session as he had on Monday with law enforcement or might there actually be some concrete policy proposals- Kayleigh McEnany: (07:52) Yeah, it will be a round- John: (07:53) ... that could at least be done at the executive level? Kayleigh McEnany: (07:55) It will be a round table, much like what you saw with law enforcement officers earlier in the week. John: (07:59) And if I could just stay on that theme for a second, in terms of reform ideas that the President could support. Democrats have floated some in the House, Senate Republicans led by Tim Scott are working on other things like banning choke holds, banning no-knock warrants, independent process to investigate misconduct. Could the President support issues like that? Kayleigh McEnany: (08:21) So again, don't want to get ahead of the announcements. What I would say is each issue is being looked at as to what would make a difference. Every thing that you've suggested has certain ramifications. So, he asked to look at each of these in great detail as he's done over the last few days. And I would just note, one thing that AG Barr said was that in the Democrat bill, they talked about needing to reduce immunity to go after bad cops, but that would result in police pulling back. So, that is one thing that is a non-starter. John: (08:49) So, is that, it's called qualified immunity- Kayleigh McEnany: (08:50) Yes. John: (08:51) ... is that red line for the President? Kayleigh McEnany: (08:52) That's a non-starter in the Democrat legislation. Yes, John. John: (08:56) Does the President believe there's a problem with institutional racism in this country and institutional racism in law enforcement? Kayleigh McEnany: (09:02) Look, I've answered this question. I think this is the fourth time I've been asked it, and I've said each and every time there are injustices that we have seen. Clearly, that tape of George Floyd was inexcusable, gut wrenching, difficult to watch. And it was really a beautiful funeral yesterday. All the great testimonies to his life. We recognize those injustices. Sandra Bland, another example. But this President knows fundamentally that most police officers in this country are good, that the 750 men and women that have been injured, that David Dorn, the police officer who was killed, and Patrick Underwood, the law enforcement officer who was killed are emblematic of what police in this country stand for. That is the best, that is the brightest, and that is our domestic heroes. Yes? John: (09:48) The reason why I'm asking it now is does he believe that action needs to be taken to fundamentally change the way law enforcement is done in this country, to make fundamental changes so that there isn't the kind of disparities that we see along racial lines? Kayleigh McEnany: (10:04) Well, the President is looking at various proposals and I would say this President has done a whole lot more than Democrats have ever done when it comes to rectifying injustices. Where you had the crime bill of the nineties, which created great racial disparities in our justice system, and President Trump rectified some of those with the First Step Act. So, President Trump's about action, and he's shown that, and he recognizes injustices and acts promptly when he sees them. Yes? Speaker 5: (10:29) Thanks, Kayleigh- Speaker 6: (10:30) Does the President agree with the recent announcements from the Marines and Navy about their policies banning the display of the Confederate flag? Kayleigh McEnany: (10:38) So, I haven't spoken to him on that specific one. He does, as I noted at the top of this briefing, fervently stand against the renaming of our forts, these great American fortresses, where literally some of these men and women who lost their lives as they went out to Europe, and Afghanistan, and Iraq, and all across this world to win World Wars on behalf of freedom. A lot of times, the very last place they saw was one of these forts. And to suggest that these forts were somehow inherently racist and their names need to be changed is a complete disrespect to the men and women, who the last bit of American land they saw before they went overseas and lost their lives were these forts. Speaker 6: (11:16) Just one follow-up. Kayleigh McEnany: (11:17) Yes? Speaker 6: (11:19) So, [inaudible 00:11:19] appointed to review the [inaudible 00:11:20] case, said the justice department has engaged in highly irregular conduct to benefit a political ally of the President. And he urged the presiding judge in the case to deny attempt by the government to dismiss the charges. What is the White House reaction? Kayleigh McEnany: (11:34) That's the first time hearing of that. I'd point you to DOJ on that. Jeff? Jeff: (11:38) Thanks, Kayleigh. Congressional Republicans, including Congresswoman Liz Cheney have criticized the President's decision to reduce the number of US troops in Germany. Some saying that it will embolden Russia if the United States does that. Did the President make that decision to punish Chancellor Merkel for deciding not to come to the G7 in June? Kayleigh McEnany: (12:00) Look, I have no announcement on that front, and he never makes decisions to punish certain world leaders. He acts in the best interest of the United States. Yes? Jeff: (12:09) Just another follow-up on another issue, real quick. It's with regard to the tweet. One of the things that the President said of his tweet was that the gentleman fell harder than he was pushed. How does that work in terms of physics? Kayleigh McEnany: (12:22) Look, the President raised several questions based on a report he saw. He has a right to ask those questions and where he stands is squarely with law enforcement. He was making no judgements, not condoning violence, not saying what happened in this case with these two officers was right or wrong, but he's standing back and saying, "We need to ask questions before we destroy lives and convict people in the court of public opinion." Yes? Speaker 8: (12:43) Thanks, Kayleigh. Two questions on [inaudible 00:12:45]. First of all, both the chair of the federal reserve and [inaudible 00:12:48] said today the US will definitely need another round of stimulus. How urgent is that for President? I mean, how soon do we expect him to meet with Democrats to discuss the next legislation? Kayleigh McEnany: (12:58) Yeah, that's a good question. He met on a potential phase four policy last week. It was a very promising discussion with his economic advisors. So, that's in the works as to when and if we see that, but it is a topic of discussion. He was encouraged by the jobs report. We were supposed to lose 7.5 million jobs. We ended up gaining 2.5 million, a swing by 10 million. It was described to me by one famed economists as one of the worst miscalculations of economists in history to be off by 10 million. That's the size of Michigan. So, the President's encouraged because what we're seeing is a belief in the Trump economy and the Trump presidency. What we're seeing is the market soar. We're seeing the SNP have its best 50 day track record in history because they believe in a president that has free market policies that got us to the hottest economy in modern history, and will get us there again. Yes. Speaker 8: (13:49) A follow-up on that. The Federal Reserve today offered a pretty grand economic outlook and employment's going to be elevated for years. And also this week, we heard from the National Bureau of Economics Research saying that the US officially entered a recession. What is the White House response to that? Kayleigh McEnany: (14:04) We believe that next month's jobs report will be robust. The President has been clear that Q4, he expects that Q3 to be a transition period, Q4 to be robust, and next year to be a very hot year. And I would note that those in the prediction business, they were off by 10 million. That's not too good. So, I'd go back and look at some of the models that were off and how extraordinary the jobs report was last time, including 300,000 new jobs for black Americans. Yes? Speaker 9: (14:29) Thank you so much. The President met with Mitch McConnell today we understand. Can you kind of fill us in on what that discussion was about? Any updates? Kayleigh McEnany: (14:38) So, I have no announcements on that front. Those were his private meetings. So, no announcements out of that. Speaker 9: (14:44) Can I just add to Jonathan's question? Kayleigh McEnany: (14:45) Mm-hmm (affirmative). Speaker 9: (14:46) A lot of people are concerned that there is ... you mentioned justice disparities. There's a lot of concern of some Americans that police officers treat black individuals and people of color differently than white individuals. Does the President share those specific concerns? Kayleigh McEnany: (15:05) Here's what he's concerned about. He's concerned about what the ... And I've told you he's addressed injustices with Sandra Bland and George Floyd, and has repeatedly acknowledged that. But here is an in addition to that, his concern, put very well by New York's Police Benevolent Association President Mike O'Meara, "Our legislators are failing us. Our press is vilifying us." He's saying "us" as police officers. "Stop treating us like animals and thugs. We've been vilified and it's disgusting." Kayleigh McEnany: (15:34) When you have a sitting Congressman Ilhan Omar calling cops cancer, what do you think that leads to? The AP reported on a shooting in front of a police department today in California. Let's stop vilifying our officers. Let's recognize injustice where we see it, but recognize all of us in here are safe because of our police officers doing their job each and every day. Speaker 9: (15:55) I understand that, but there are concerns [crosstalk 00:15:57] of many Americans that people of color are not treated the same by police. And that is what many of the protests have been about. Does the President share those specific concerns? Kayleigh McEnany: (16:09) The President believes most of our police officers are good, hardworking men and women like David Dorn, who was killed among these riots, like Patrick Underwood, who was killed among these riots. Those are our police officers. They are our best. They are our brightest. They are absolute places of injustice. We're addressing those. We're looking at legislative proposals, and EOs, and what ultimately is determined, we'll see in the coming days as to what will work as a policy prescription. But stop vilifying our officers because they deserve better than that. They're out there, they're working hard. 750 injured just in the last week and a half, and we need to recognize that. Yes? Speaker 10: (16:46) Kayleigh, a follow-up on the Buffalo protester. Is the President disappointed that more Republicans have not lined up to support the questions he asked, to use your characterization of it, which many people also characterize as a conspiracy theory? Speaker 10: (17:03) And secondly, has the President reached out either to the injured gentlemen or to the police officers involved? Kayleigh McEnany: (17:10) So, first of all, President Trump, I would say, he's not focused on what Republicans are saying or not saying on the Hill. He's focused on making changes. As I said, he's been diligently hard at work the last 10 days, and that is where his focus squarely lies at the moment. Yes? Speaker 11: (17:23) Thanks, Kayleigh. Has he reached out to either the gentleman or the- Kayleigh McEnany: (17:28) Not that I'm aware of, no. Speaker 11: (17:29) Has he considered it? Kayleigh McEnany: (17:30) Not that I'm aware of. Hello, yes? Speaker 12: (17:31) Thanks, Kayleigh. You started this briefing reading off some statistics about success of mitigation efforts on the spread of COVID, but we're now seeing a spike in cases in more than a dozen states and increased hospitalizations in a lot of those as well. So, and many public health experts attribute these spikes to Memorial Day weekend gatherings and other aspects of the reopening process before these mass protests. So, why is President Trump continuing to urge reopening given this trend? And should we be slowing down a little bit on the reopening process, as we see cases spike? Kayleigh McEnany: (18:04) First, let me know as it pertains to Memorial Day, a week ago today, the Vice President's team told me, I wasn't in task force that day, but that it was said that in fact, that there was no linkage to Memorial Day as being some point of spring wild outbreaks and rises across the nation. What I would say though, I talked to Dr. Birx and she said, "What we've seen is that in general, April averaged out to be about 30,000 cases a day, May was about 25,000 cases a day. Currently, we're at around 20,000 cases a day." Kayleigh McEnany: (18:35) And you've got to look in a nuanced way at each of these states. Like for instance, Texas is one of the places where they're saying we're seeing a steady slope, not a huge rise, but part of it's in due to the fact that they're testing in long-term care facilities and in prisons, and the more testing you do, the more cases you identify. Speaker 12: (18:53) And can I ask a follow-up? Kayleigh McEnany: (18:54) Sure. Speaker 12: (18:55) President Trump is planning to restart campaign rallies within the next few weeks. What sort of precautions is he going to be taking at his rallies for the safety of the rally goers? Kayleigh McEnany: (19:03) So, we have no rallies announced just yet. You're right about the two week timeline that was put forward, but we will ensure that everyone who goes is safe, but no specific announcements on that front. And I would direct you to the campaign for more information on that. Yes? Owen Jensen: (19:15) Yes. Thanks for taking my question. Owen Jensen with EWTN News. Kayleigh McEnany: (19:19) Yep. Owen Jensen: (19:19) We've seen thousands of people in the streets protesting, exercising their constitutional right, those of course doing it peacefully. At the same time, churches in many cases told to limit their gatherings, in some cases to 10 or no more. Does the President see a double standard there, constitutionally speaking? And if, can you explain please? Kayleigh McEnany: (19:36) There are absolute double standards that we've seen, and that's why the justice department set up a task force, if you will, or a group to look at civil liberties as during coronavirus shutdowns. I read about one case where you had an allowance of outside gathering and protests, but indoor churches could not gather even with socially distance protocols. He absolutely sees an issue. There've been several cases pointed to where people attending church in their cars were targeted by law enforcement officers, so that's unacceptable. People should be allowed to worship. We have a first amendment in this country. There's a way to safely do it. I went to mass and was able to safely attend distance from people, and there were appropriate protocols that were taken in that case. And that's what we hope to see, as the President made eminently clear a few weeks ago, Owen Jensen: (20:21) A quick follow-up on that. Not too long ago, he asked for all churches to reopen. Is he happy with the progress or no? Kayleigh McEnany: (20:26) He's happy with the progress. I've seen, and in fact, that very week, a church that I visited reopened, a church down the road from me. So, I think he gave a lot of courage to the faith community to reopen, to do so safely. And look, here we are, I think, four weeks later, and we haven't been hearing about rampant outbreaks in places of worship. The first amendment is a beautiful thing. People have a right to go to church or mosque or synagogue. Yes? Speaker 14: (20:47) Yes. Hi, Kayleigh, thanks. Still COVID. The President seems pretty unconcerned so far about November and the COVID situation, and whether people are going to be afraid to go to the polls or whether there's going to be a lot of delays because of the COVID. He recently said it's a long way off. I think meaning that the pandemic will have died down by then and such. But given that it hasn't actually gone away, and people are still dying every day, and there are some spikes, and it's not that far away, five months, are any measures being taken at all to guarantee that this election is going to go smoothly and everybody who wants to vote can vote? Kayleigh McEnany: (21:24) Yeah. Well, I've not seen much criticism of the protest and socially distance and mitigation efforts [crosstalk 00:21:31]- Speaker 14: (21:30) I'm talking about the election, not the protest. Kayleigh McEnany: (21:30) I think there's a way to safely vote if you can safely protest, and that's what the President would like to see. There is a way to safely vote. There's a way to safely go to church. And you're asking a hypothetical about something five months from now at a time, ironically, when the media hasn't expressed much outrage about a lack of mitigation efforts taken by some of the protesters [crosstalk 00:21:50]- Speaker 14: (21:49) I was just wondering about the election. That's what everyone cares about. Kayleigh McEnany: (21:49) Raquel. Raquel: (21:54) Thank you so much, Kayleigh. Two questions. First, is the President concerned the protests could lead to another outbreak of coronavirus? And the second question, President Trump said that he does not believe the death toll and coronavirus case figures shown in some countries. Does he trust the figure from Brazil? Is the White House concerned that the Brazilian government is hiding information about COVID-19? Kayleigh McEnany: (22:19) So, I haven't spoken to him about the Brazil numbers, but I have heard him on several cases, probably at least five, mention that he'd seen what's going on in Brazil and he was hurt to see how many people have been affected by COVID down there. So, yeah, he has mentioned Brazil specifically. I believe he even sent some ventilators to Brazil because we had such an overflow of ventilators here because America really, under the leadership of President Trump, snapped into action and shored up what was supposed to be a ventilator shortage and delivered. This administration delivered. So, I would just note that, that he's mentioned great concern for the people of Brazil. Raquel: (22:54) Kayleigh, just the first question that I ask, is the President concerned the protests could lead to another outbreak of coronavirus? Kayleigh McEnany: (23:02) Yeah, we're monitoring that. Right now, we're encouraged to see that cases have declined month over month. But the Vice President, as I walked out here, said the task force is well aware and monitoring individual situations in particular states. Nils? Nils: (23:13) Kayleigh, thank you. Thank you. Going back to where you started with the statement about renaming the military bases. If Congress were to send over, say the defense authorization with language that were to remain one of these bases for someone who, say, was a general who won the Civil Warm would the President veto the defense authorization? Kayleigh McEnany: (23:40) The President will not be signing legislation that renames America's forts. It's important to note, Fort Bragg, for example, it's one of the largest military installations. It's home to tens of thousands of brave American soldiers. And when you think of Fort Bragg, we think of the brave soldiers that deployed from there. We think of all five World War II airborne divisions, the 82nd, the 101st, the 11th, the 13th, and the 17th, all trained at Fort Bragg. The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, this was the first black parachute battalion trained at this fort. We must recognize the sacrifices made by these men and women, some of whom saw Fort Bragg for the last time before they went overseas. And we've got to think of the Fort Bragg soldiers that have led humanitarian operations like in Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti. We've got to honor what has happened there, not rename it. So, that is an absolute non-starter for the President. And I would also note- John: (24:40) One more question on that- Kayleigh McEnany: (24:41) Yeah, John? John: (24:43) One more question to that. General David Petraeus is one of those people who went through Fort Bragg a number of times, even though his first command was at the Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He penned a quite lengthy and detailed editorial about the reasons why those bases should be renamed, saying it's ironic that American soldiers and Marines are being trained at bases named for people who fought against the Union back in the Civil War, that many of the people for whom these bases are named were leaders held in questionable regard, but who were elevated during the Lost Cause movement. He goes on to say, "We do not live in a country to which Braxton Bragg, Henry L. Benning or Robert E. Lee can serve as an inspiration." What does the White House say to that particular point of view? Kayleigh McEnany: (25:25) Fort Bragg is known for the heroes within it, that train there, that deployed from there, and it's an insult to say to the men and women who left there, the last thing they saw on American soil before going overseas, and in some cases losing their lives, to tell them that what they left was inherently a racist institution because of a name. That's unacceptable to the President, and rightfully so. And I would also note, where do you draw the line here? I'm told that no longer can you find on HBO Gone With the Wind because somehow that is now offensive. Where do you draw the line? Should George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and James Madison be erased from history? What about FDR because of internment camps? Should he be erased from history? Or Lyndon Johnson, who has a history of documented racist statements? Kayleigh McEnany: (26:13) And finally, what about people that are alleged by the media to be segregationist? NBC tells us Joe Biden didn't just compromise with segregationists, he fought for their causes in schools, experts say. CNN tells us letters from Joe Biden reveal how he sought support of segregationists and the fight against busing. And Washington Post tells us that Biden's tough talk on 1970s schools' desegregation plans could get him new scrutiny and there are several more where that came from. So, I'll leave you with the question. Should we then rename the Biden Welcome Center? [crosstalk 00:26:44] Thanks very much, guys. John: (26:44) [crosstalk 00:26:46]. One quick follow-up on-