White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Monday vehemently defended President Trump when pressed on his lack of a nationally televised address as protests and unrest mount in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
When asked about reports that the President took cover in the White House’s underground bunker during protests in nearby Lafayette Park on Friday evening, McEnany denied that Trump is “hiding out” from addressing Floyd’s death.
The President had no public events on his schedule Monday.
Although Trump has issued inflammatory tweets targeting political enemies and protesters against Floyd’s death, he has yet to give a formal Oval Office address on the nationwide unrest.
McEnany said she spoke to the President “at least half a dozen times” on Sunday, claiming that he has “stepped in” when governors have failed to “solve and resolve what we have seen in the streets.”
“He is acting. He is hard at work,” McEnany said. “You heard from him on this issue any number of times, and he is working because that is the job the President is to keep this country safe.”
After a reporter pointed out that he has yet to speak on Floyd’s death in a formal address, McEnany responded that she thinks “that is a misnomer in the media.”
McEnany then railed against the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN for their coverage of the President’s response.
McEnany listed off quotes from Trump’s remarks while visiting the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday — which included calling Floyd’s death a “grave tragedy” — before doubling down on her argument that the President has not remained silent.
“I could go on and on, but I would just be repeating with the President has already said,” McEnany said. “Make no mistake. This President has not been silent. And at the moment he is acting to protect this country from the lawlessness we saw just out here in Lafayette Park last night.”
Earlier Monday, McEnany shared similar remarks during an interview on “Fox and Friends” saying that Trump “has addressed” the unrest “repeatedly.”
Watch McEnany’s remarks below:
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany denies that the President has failed to speak out about George Floyd's death pic.twitter.com/tZCnLosoXX
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) June 1, 2020
