White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany pushed back on Monday against the notion that President Donald Trump is “hiding” from the American people as protests against police brutality continue to sweep the nation.
“He was literally put in a bunker Friday night by the Secret Service,” one member of the press corps said, citing reports that emerged over the weekend. “Would you agree that he is hiding out on this issue and is that a good posture to be in?” the reporters asked.
“I would not agree with that at all,” McEnany replied, without denying that Trump had been rushed to an underground bunker typically reserved for terrorist attacks. She said she had been on the phone with the president “at least half a dozen times” on Sunday and touted all of the “action” he has taken amidst the unrest. “Where the governors have failed, he’s stepped in,” she said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Pressed to explain why Trump has not delivered a national address as past presidents have done in similarly tense moments in American history, McEnany attacked the media for supposedly ignoring the “myriad times the president has spoken on this issue.”
She pointed only to his remarks at the SpaceX launch event over the weekend in which he called the killing of George Floyd a “grave tragedy” that “should never have happened.”
“Make no mistake, this president has not been silent,” she insisted, “and at this moment he is acting to protect this country from the lawlessness we saw just out here in Lafayette Park last night.”
Earlier in her press conference, McEnany unironically praised Trump’s “long history of condemning white supremacy and racism.”
