Kayleigh McEnany took the podium for the first time as the White House Press Secretary Friday and pledged never to lie to the media. She...
Kayleigh McEnany took the podium for the first time as the White House Press Secretary Friday and pledged never to lie to the media.
She got asked point-blank at the first formal briefing in 417 days at a time of tense relations between reporters and the Trump White House whether she would always tell the truth.
'I will never lie to you, you have my word on that,' she responded.
The telegenic former Trump campaign spokeswoman fielded a series of questions on topics ranging from the coronavirus pandemic to her own plans for communicating with the press and the American people.
She declared the president's 'total exoneration' in the Russia probe, called fired national security advisor Mike Flynn an 'honorable man,' and plugged an upcoming Trump appearance on Fox News.
Kayleigh McEnany took the podium for the first time as the White House Press Secretary and pledged never to lie to the press
Asked about her own access to the president, who likes to act as his own communications director, she responded: 'I’m around the president almost the entire day.'
'I’m consistently with him absorbing his thinking,' she said.
Trump has largely seized the podium for himself amid the coronavirus that has infected 1 million Americans and killed more than 60,000. It was not yet clear Friday afternoon whether he would field questions from reporters himself en route to Camp David at the end of the day.
McEnany's @presssec Twitter profile features an image of Trump pointing toward her while she is seated next to deputy White House spokesman Hogan Gidley.
'We do plan to continue these,' she said of briefings, though she said it would be driven by the news of the day.
McEnany on her own brought up fired National Security Advisor Mike Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. Newly unsealed notes reveal an FBI official wrote discussing whether to get Flynn 'to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired.'
McEnany faced the press as the first press secretary to do a briefing in 417 days
'We do plan to continue these,' she said of the White House press briefing, which used to be a regular occurance
McEnany defended Mike Flynn, took a shot at the Mueller probe, and touted the ratings of the president's coronavirus task force
She called Flynn, who also lobbied for Turkey without disclosing it while advising the Trump campaign, an 'honorable man who served his country' and tried to turn the tables on reporters by asking them whether the FBI's conduct was appropriate. Neither of the ones she asked stepped out of the normal journalistic role of asking, rather than answering, the questions.
She fielded several questions about whether Trump still believes Flynn lied to Mike Pence, which Trump stated as a reason for firing him in 2017 after just a few weeks on the job.
Pressed on the administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak, she said Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner 'has first of all done a great job for this administration.'
After Trump tweeted the governor of Michigan should make a deal with protesters after armed activists stormed the state Capitol in Lansing, McEnany said Trump 'encourages everyone to protest responsibly.'
She concluded her briefing bashing the Mueller probe as being amid speculation about 'Russia, Russia, Russia' and $40 million of 'taxpayer money being lost and the complete and total exoneration of President Trump.'
Then she plugged a Fox News town hall featuring the president.
'It’ll be cant-miss television, much like the highly-rated President Trump Coronavirus Task Force briefings have been
Her briefing was the first by any White House press secretary in more than a year.
Her predecessor Stephanie Grisham never did one during a nine-month stint as press secretary, instead opting for TV appearances on Fox News and with other conservative outlets.
McEnany, who teased the appearance with a comment on Thursday, faced the press amid fierce internal debate over whether Trump is helping his cause with his own near-daily briefings on the coronavirus.
He pulled back and refused to take questions a week ago after giving a bizarre instruction to government scientists that they research the possibility of injecting disinfectants in coronavirus as a cure.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany holds her first press briefing Friday after being appointed earlier this month
She started her job early this month in a shake-up that coincided with the arrival of new White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
The president fielded numerous questions from the East Room of the White House on Thursday, where he claimed the coronavirus may have come from a lab in Wuhan, China.
His female press secretary, his third in a row, will make her debut on a day when rival Joe Biden made his first public comments on Tara Reade, who has accused him of sexually assaulting her in 1993 when he was a senator and she was an aide. Biden said the event she alleged 'never happened.'
Her predecessor, Stephanie Grisham, did not hold a briefing during her nine-month tenure
The new communications director is Alyssa Farah
QUESTION TIME: Former Trump administration White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is called on by U.S. President Donald Trump to ask a question during the administration's daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 20, 2020
McEnany tweeted a biblical quote on the day she was to hold her first formal White House briefing
She will face reporters as U.S. coronavirus deaths top 60,000, with infections of more than 1 million. Her boss has pushed back hard against criticisms he was slow to respond to the growing crisis by procuring protective gear and setting up testing mechanisms.
The Trump White House has had tense relations with the press. Last week, the staff tried to force a CNN reporter to relinquish her front-row briefing room seat. This week, the vice president's staff has said it may bar a Voice of America reporter from Air Force Two after he tweeted that Pence's staff advised press they should wear masks during Pence's tour of the Mayo Clinic. Pence himself did not wear a mask and was criticized for it.
During past administrations, a White House press secretary holding a formal briefing would hardly be news, but it's an oddity in the current administration, in which the media-obsessed Trump sees himself as his best spokesman, communications director and strategist.
Asked on Thursday if she was going to be taking the podium soon, McEnany quipped: 'Never say never.' Later, White House social media director Dan Scavino tweeted that McEnany, Trump's fourth press secretary, would take the podium Friday afternoon.
Trump shook up his communications team in early April. Stephanie Grisham, who had held the titles of press secretary and White House communications director since last June, was removed after never holding a formal press briefing. She rejoined the first lady's office in a new role as Melania Trump´s chief of staff.
Grisham, who succeeded Sarah Sanders and Sean Spicer, was arguably the nation´s least visible press secretary in modern history. While she made occasional appearances on the Fox News Channel, she preferred to tape her interviews in a studio to avoid having to speak to reporters who gather on the White House driveway to interview officials after they appear on TV via cameras set up outside the executive mansion.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany talks with reporters in the briefing room of the White House, Thursday, April 30, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany listens during a meeting between President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., about the coronavirus response, in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, April 28, 2020, in Washington
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany listens as lawmakers talk about the coronavirus spending bill after meeting with President Donald Trump at White House, Tuesday, April 21, 2020, in Washington
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