Kayleigh McEnany Confronted at Briefing: You Said in February Trump ‘Won’t Allow Coronavirus to Come to This Country’

During Wednesday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was confronted over comments she made weeks ago downplaying the threat of the coronavirus to the United States.

In late February, McEnany spoke with Trish Regan – a month before Regan parted ways with the network – about the coronavirus and the steps President Donald Trump was taking, with Regan citing the China travel ban in particular.

McEnany said, “This president will always put America first, he will always protect American citizens, we will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here, we will not see terrorism come here, and isn’t that refreshing when contrasting with the awful presidency of Barack Obama?”

Her “we will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here” comment received renewed attention in recent weeks, as the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. has increased day by day.

During today’s briefing, Reuters’ Jeff Mason asked McEnany, “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 coronavirus to come to this country. Given what has happened since then, obviously, would you like to take that back?”

“I was asked a question on Fox Business about the president’s travel restrictions. I noted what was the intent behind those travelrestrictions, which is we will not see coronavirus come here, we will not see terrorism come here, referring to an earlier set of travel restrictions,” McEnany responded.

She continued by “turn[ing] the question back on the media” to bring up examples from Vox, the Washington Post, etc. downplaying the coronavirus early on.

You can watch above, via ???.