Kayleigh McEnany Says Trump ‘Never Downplayed the Virus’ When Confronted By Audio of Trump Saying He Downplayed It

Sarah RumpfSep 9th, 2020, 2:05 pm
 

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was under heavy fire from reporters at a press briefing Wednesday regarding President Donald Trump’s admissions in Bob Woodward’s upcoming book, and said that the president had “never downplayed” the coronavirus — a claim that was swiftly fact-checked as false.

“How can the president bear no responsibility for the 200, almost 200,000 lives lost when he downplayed the virus initially and he knew it was contagious and deadly it was?” asked Bloomberg’s Mario Parker.

“The president never downplayed the virus,” replied McEnany, characterizing Trump’s comments as “expressing calm.”

“This president embodied the American spirit,” McEnany added, “that when we face a challenge, a crisis, a pandemic, we come together, we can be optimistic. We can be serious about it, we can take it seriously with our actions, which is exactly what this president does. It’s why we lead the world in testing. Doing far more than the number two, which is India.”

“He took this seriously, but he still expressed calm,” she continued. “Our food supply chains were at risk, we could not have mass runs on grocery stores. The markets, also, the economy, was in play here. We didn’t want there to be a huge crash and panic. He expressed calmness from this podium but he has always taken it seriously and the response, an unprecedented response reflects that.”

Earlier Wednesday, Woodward had released audio tapes of his conversations with Trump, and in one clip the president can be heard expressly admitting that he was downplaying the virus: “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”

The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent also tweeted several Trump quotes over the past several months downplaying the virus:

Watch the video above, via CNN.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.