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Press Briefing by Kayleigh McEnany; July 6, 2020
PRESS BRIEFINGS
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany
Issued on: July 6, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
1:29 P.M. EDT
MS. MCENANY: All right. Hello, everyone. Over the holiday weekend, President Trump delivered two defining, unifying, and patriotic speeches, which drew widespread praise by those who cherish our values, honor our history, and seek to advance policies that lift up all Americans.
The President outlined a vision for the future. The President outlined a vision for stronger and safer communities. President Trump said, “After all, what do we want? We want a strong military, great education, housing, low taxes, law and order.” He went on to say, “We want safety, we want equal justice, we want religious liberty, we want faith and family, and living in the great communities and happy communities and safe communities. And we want great jobs, and we want to be respected by the rest of the world, not taken advantage of by the rest of the world.” He went on to say, “We should all want the same thing. How can it be any different than those things?”
This message is now more important and more timely than ever. Radical left-wing mobs seek to tear down our monuments and our memorials — everyone from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln to Frederick Douglass, and even Gandhi.
{snip}
This vision is not a culture war, as the media seeks to falsely proclaim; it’s an embrace of our American family, our values, our freedom, and our future.
And with that, I’ll take questions.
Peter.
Q Kayleigh, I want to ask you just a couple questions. The first one: Why is the President so supportive of flying the Confederate flag?
MS. MCENANY: So I think you’re referring to a tweet this morning. Is that right?
Q Correct.
MS. MCENANY: Well, I think you’re mischaracterizing the tweet. The tweet was aimed at pointing out that the FBI report of the alleged hate crime at NASCAR concluded that the garage door pull, which had been there since last fall, was obviously not targeted at a specific individual because, in fact, it was a garage pull and, in fact, it was there since last fall, long before these 43 teams arrived. And it was concluded by the FBI that this was, quote, “not an intentional racist act.”
Q For clarity, I’m asking you about the Confederate flags. My question is: Why is the President so supportive of flying the Confederate flag?
MS. MCENANY: The President never said that. Again, you’re taking his tweet completely out of context.
Q The President said that NASCAR saw bad ratings because they took down the Confederate flag, banned the Confederate flag. Does he believe NASCAR should fly the Confederate flag? And why don’t they fly it here?
MS. MCENANY: The whole point of the tweet was to note the incident, the alleged hate crime that, in fact, was not a hate crime. At the very end, the ban on the flag was mentioned in the broader context of the fact that he rejects this notion that somehow NASCAR men and women who go to these sporting events are racist when, in fact, as it turns out, what we saw with the FBI report and the alleged incident of a hate crime — it was a complete indictment of the media’s rush to judgment once again, calling this a hate crime when the FBI completely dismissed that.
{snip}
Q Kayleigh, to follow on Peter’s question, what is the President’s position? Does he think NASCAR made a mistake by banning the Confederate flag?
MS. MCENANY: So he said he — I spoke to him this morning about this, and he said he was not making a judgment one way or the other. The intent of the tweet was to stand up for the men and women of NASCAR and the fans and those who have gone, and this rush to judgment of the media to call something a hate crime when, in fact, the FBI report concluded this was not an intentional racist act. And it very much mirrors other times when there have been a rush to judgment, let’s say with the Covington boys or with Jussie Smollett.
Q But let’s drill down on the Confederate flag. Does he think it was a mistake for NASCAR to ban it?
MS. MCENANY: The President said he wasn’t making a judgment one way or the other. You’re focusing on —
Q But what is his position on it?
MS. MCENANY: — one word at the very bottom of a tweet that’s completely taken out of context and neglecting the complete rush to judgment on this.
Q Wasn’t he saying that NASCAR’s rating were down because they banned the flag? That’s what he said.
MS. MCENANY: The President was noting the fact that, in aggregate, this notion that NASCAR men and women who have gone and who are being demeaned and called racist, and being accused in some venues of committing a hate crime against an individual, those allegations were just dead wrong.
Q Does he think —
MS. MCENANY: Paula.
Q Does he think his supporters should not take the flag to Trump rallies? Has he considered banning the Confederate flag from Trump rallies?
MS. MCENANY: Well, at Trump rallies, all flags that are not official campaign gear are banned.
Yes.
Q Kayleigh, why is it Bubba Wallace’s responsibility to apologize for an investigation into a noose that he didn’t report and he never even saw? It was NASCAR that found this, that reported this. And even the FBI referred to it as a noose, even if they said it wasn’t a specific crime against Mr. Wallace. Why is the President even suggesting that Mr. Wallace should apologize?
MS. MCENANY: Well, look, the FBI, as I noted, concluded that this was not a hate crime, and he believes it’d go a long way if Bubba came out and acknowledged that as well —
Q He has.
MS. MCENANY: This was not —
Q He has.
MS. MCENANY: — a hate crime, as noted —
Q In interviews, he’s been very clear that —
MS. MCENANY: — by the FBI. So, the President —
Q — the FBI found this was not intentional.
MS. MCENANY: One of the things —
Q Why is he directing this at Mr. Wallace?
MS. MCENANY: So one of the things that —
Q He was a victim of a suspected hate crime.
MS. MCENANY: One of — this is where the President comes from, and this is where the President stands, and he actually hinted at this in his July 4th speech: “To those in the media who falsely and consistently label their opponents as racist, who condemn patriotic citizens who offer a clear and truthful defense of American unity, we want a clear and faithful defense of American history and unity. And when you level false charges, you not only slander me, you slander the American people.” He believes —
Q Who was charged? It was an open investigation, Kayleigh —
MS. MCENANY: — the American people are good. And the allegations —
Q — into a noose. The FBI said —
MS. MCENANY: — and the rush to judgement —
Q — it was a noose.
MS. MCENANY: — with Jussie Smollett and the Bubba Wallace case and with the Covington Catholic boys, we shouldn’t be so quick to jump onto those narratives. Those are just three examples of those —
Q But you’re suggesting that Mr. Wallace —
MS. MCENANY: that have been proven false.
Yes.
Q — should apologize for an investigation that someone else initiated, suggesting he was possibly the victim of a hate crime?
MS. MCENANY: (Calls on next reporter.) Yes.
{snip}
But I think it’s important that we point out the fact that there was no hate crime; the FBI concluded that. And President Trump was merely saying that Mr. Wallace should agree with that consensus.
Yes, Mario.
Q No, he’s saying he has to apologize.
MS. MCENANY: Mario, yes.
Q He’s saying he has to apologize. That’s what we’re trying to ask you, Kayleigh, is —
MS. MCENANY: Mario, yes.
Q — why should he have to apologize about that?
MS. MCENANY: I’m not going to answer a question a sixth time.
Mario.
Q But you haven’t answered that question. I mean, you’ve been asked it, but you haven’t answered it.
Q You haven’t answered it.
MS. MCENANY: Mario, go ahead.
Q Kayleigh, on the Confederate part: Why would the President not praise NASCAR for removing the Confederate flag, particularly given the history of that flag, the symbol that it has for African Americans, and also what it represents in terms of just the treasonous acts and the insurrection against the Republic?
MS. MCENANY: So —
Q Why would he not praise them for taking that down, even if it’s a ratings (inaudible)?
MS. MCENANY: The President takes great offense when Americans — our kneejerk reaction summed up as racist. And in aggregate, the picture being painted here in this instant — incident seemed to be that there was that suggestion there, when, in fact, what we’re seeing across the nation is this vast cancel culture where we’re going to tear down our monuments, we’re going to tear down Gandhi, we’re going to tear down George Washington, we’re going to tear down Lincoln.
It’s really quite appalling what we’ve seen happen across the country, and the President wants no part in cancel culture. He wants to no part in the tearing down and defacing of Matthias Baldwin, an abolitionist; Philadelphia Civil War soldiers; John Greenleaf Whittier vandalized, an abolitionist. He wants no part in this, and he stands against the demonization of Americans, and he stands firmly on the side of preserving our history.
Yes.
Q But, Kayleigh, the Confederate flag is a different issue.
MS. MCENANY: He’s not — I said from the very top of this briefing: He has not given an opinion one way or the other on that. I just spoke to him this morning.
Yes.
Q Kayleigh, why — what exactly does the President see as positive or uniting then about the Confederate flag? Why does he — why did he decide to tweet about it then, this morning?
MS. MCENANY: The President never used those words. Those are the words of a reporter, not that of the President of the United States.
{snip}
Q Thank you, Kayleigh. I wanted to say, first off, point of fact: Bubba Wallace did not make any kind of false report. And I’m wondering, in general, why the President thinks that issue is worth his time and focus right now in the midst of a deadly pandemic? And then also, you’ve said he has no opinion on the Confederate flag. Why can’t this White House unambiguously state whether or not it supports displays of the Confederate flag and —
MS. MCENANY: No, I said —
Q — Confederate monuments, which are much more —
MS. MCENANY: I said in his —
Q — a part of this question than Gandhi?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, I said that, you know, he was — his tweet was not to indicate approval or disapproval of that particular policy of NASCAR. It was in aggregate to stand against the rush to judgment to call something a hate crime before the facts were out, when clearly the media was wrong about this, when clearly —
Q But you said Bubba Wallace made a false report; he didn’t.
MS. MCENANY: I never said that. Perhaps one of the reporters said that, but I certainly did not.
But he believes that we should be — that the truth matters and that the truth was: The FBI did a thorough investigation, and what was concluded — that there was no hate crime here. And we should all be grateful for that; grateful that NASCAR fans came together in a great display of American unity around Mr. Wallace. But then we should also be equally unequivocal about the truth of this situation here and that most Americans are great, hardworking people.
Yes.
Q But why is this cultural stuff worth his time and —
MS. MCENANY: Yes.
Q — focus during the pandemic?
MS. MCENANY: Yes, he’s focused on two things at once, something we’re all capable of doing.
Q And what about on an unambiguous statement on the Confederate flag? Are we capable of doing that?
MS. MCENANY: Look, the President has made clear he was not taking a position one way or the other in that tweet.
Q Exactly. But why not?
MS. MCENANY: Yes. Yes.
Q Thanks, Kayleigh. Two quick questions, if I may. Does the President support the Cleveland Indians and the football team here in Washington considering changing their names?
MS. MCENANY: I haven’t spoken to the President on that.
Q And the other question: Who came up with the list of historical figures that the President wants honored in his — in his garden of statues that he put out this executive order about? Who came up with the list of people to be included?
MS. MCENANY: So, I don’t know exactly who came up with that list. I can ask about it, but it’s a pretty extraordinary list of people. I think we can all agree on the fact that great American heroes are people like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr. — these are incredible men and women in our history — Susan B. Anthony and Billy Graham. So I think we can all pretty much widely acknowledge that these are American heroes.
Yes.
{snip}
And I’ll leave you with this remark by a dad — it broke my heart — a dad of an eight-year-old lost in Atlanta this weekend: “They say black lives matter…you killed a child. She didn’t do nothing to nobody,” was his quote.
We need to be focused on securing our streets, making sure no lives are lost because all black lives matter — that of David Dorn and that of this eight-year-old girl.
Thank you.
END 1:51 P.M. EDT
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany
Issued on: July 6, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
1:29 P.M. EDT
MS. MCENANY: All right. Hello, everyone. Over the holiday weekend, President Trump delivered two defining, unifying, and patriotic speeches, which drew widespread praise by those who cherish our values, honor our history, and seek to advance policies that lift up all Americans.
The President outlined a vision for the future. The President outlined a vision for stronger and safer communities. President Trump said, “After all, what do we want? We want a strong military, great education, housing, low taxes, law and order.” He went on to say, “We want safety, we want equal justice, we want religious liberty, we want faith and family, and living in the great communities and happy communities and safe communities. And we want great jobs, and we want to be respected by the rest of the world, not taken advantage of by the rest of the world.” He went on to say, “We should all want the same thing. How can it be any different than those things?”
This message is now more important and more timely than ever. Radical left-wing mobs seek to tear down our monuments and our memorials — everyone from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln to Frederick Douglass, and even Gandhi.
{snip}
This vision is not a culture war, as the media seeks to falsely proclaim; it’s an embrace of our American family, our values, our freedom, and our future.
And with that, I’ll take questions.
Peter.
Q Kayleigh, I want to ask you just a couple questions. The first one: Why is the President so supportive of flying the Confederate flag?
MS. MCENANY: So I think you’re referring to a tweet this morning. Is that right?
Q Correct.
MS. MCENANY: Well, I think you’re mischaracterizing the tweet. The tweet was aimed at pointing out that the FBI report of the alleged hate crime at NASCAR concluded that the garage door pull, which had been there since last fall, was obviously not targeted at a specific individual because, in fact, it was a garage pull and, in fact, it was there since last fall, long before these 43 teams arrived. And it was concluded by the FBI that this was, quote, “not an intentional racist act.”
Q For clarity, I’m asking you about the Confederate flags. My question is: Why is the President so supportive of flying the Confederate flag?
MS. MCENANY: The President never said that. Again, you’re taking his tweet completely out of context.
Q The President said that NASCAR saw bad ratings because they took down the Confederate flag, banned the Confederate flag. Does he believe NASCAR should fly the Confederate flag? And why don’t they fly it here?
MS. MCENANY: The whole point of the tweet was to note the incident, the alleged hate crime that, in fact, was not a hate crime. At the very end, the ban on the flag was mentioned in the broader context of the fact that he rejects this notion that somehow NASCAR men and women who go to these sporting events are racist when, in fact, as it turns out, what we saw with the FBI report and the alleged incident of a hate crime — it was a complete indictment of the media’s rush to judgment once again, calling this a hate crime when the FBI completely dismissed that.
{snip}
Q Kayleigh, to follow on Peter’s question, what is the President’s position? Does he think NASCAR made a mistake by banning the Confederate flag?
MS. MCENANY: So he said he — I spoke to him this morning about this, and he said he was not making a judgment one way or the other. The intent of the tweet was to stand up for the men and women of NASCAR and the fans and those who have gone, and this rush to judgment of the media to call something a hate crime when, in fact, the FBI report concluded this was not an intentional racist act. And it very much mirrors other times when there have been a rush to judgment, let’s say with the Covington boys or with Jussie Smollett.
Q But let’s drill down on the Confederate flag. Does he think it was a mistake for NASCAR to ban it?
MS. MCENANY: The President said he wasn’t making a judgment one way or the other. You’re focusing on —
Q But what is his position on it?
MS. MCENANY: — one word at the very bottom of a tweet that’s completely taken out of context and neglecting the complete rush to judgment on this.
Q Wasn’t he saying that NASCAR’s rating were down because they banned the flag? That’s what he said.
MS. MCENANY: The President was noting the fact that, in aggregate, this notion that NASCAR men and women who have gone and who are being demeaned and called racist, and being accused in some venues of committing a hate crime against an individual, those allegations were just dead wrong.
Q Does he think —
MS. MCENANY: Paula.
Q Does he think his supporters should not take the flag to Trump rallies? Has he considered banning the Confederate flag from Trump rallies?
MS. MCENANY: Well, at Trump rallies, all flags that are not official campaign gear are banned.
Yes.
Q Kayleigh, why is it Bubba Wallace’s responsibility to apologize for an investigation into a noose that he didn’t report and he never even saw? It was NASCAR that found this, that reported this. And even the FBI referred to it as a noose, even if they said it wasn’t a specific crime against Mr. Wallace. Why is the President even suggesting that Mr. Wallace should apologize?
MS. MCENANY: Well, look, the FBI, as I noted, concluded that this was not a hate crime, and he believes it’d go a long way if Bubba came out and acknowledged that as well —
Q He has.
MS. MCENANY: This was not —
Q He has.
MS. MCENANY: — a hate crime, as noted —
Q In interviews, he’s been very clear that —
MS. MCENANY: — by the FBI. So, the President —
Q — the FBI found this was not intentional.
MS. MCENANY: One of the things —
Q Why is he directing this at Mr. Wallace?
MS. MCENANY: So one of the things that —
Q He was a victim of a suspected hate crime.
MS. MCENANY: One of — this is where the President comes from, and this is where the President stands, and he actually hinted at this in his July 4th speech: “To those in the media who falsely and consistently label their opponents as racist, who condemn patriotic citizens who offer a clear and truthful defense of American unity, we want a clear and faithful defense of American history and unity. And when you level false charges, you not only slander me, you slander the American people.” He believes —
Q Who was charged? It was an open investigation, Kayleigh —
MS. MCENANY: — the American people are good. And the allegations —
Q — into a noose. The FBI said —
MS. MCENANY: — and the rush to judgement —
Q — it was a noose.
MS. MCENANY: — with Jussie Smollett and the Bubba Wallace case and with the Covington Catholic boys, we shouldn’t be so quick to jump onto those narratives. Those are just three examples of those —
Q But you’re suggesting that Mr. Wallace —
MS. MCENANY: that have been proven false.
Yes.
Q — should apologize for an investigation that someone else initiated, suggesting he was possibly the victim of a hate crime?
MS. MCENANY: (Calls on next reporter.) Yes.
{snip}
But I think it’s important that we point out the fact that there was no hate crime; the FBI concluded that. And President Trump was merely saying that Mr. Wallace should agree with that consensus.
Yes, Mario.
Q No, he’s saying he has to apologize.
MS. MCENANY: Mario, yes.
Q He’s saying he has to apologize. That’s what we’re trying to ask you, Kayleigh, is —
MS. MCENANY: Mario, yes.
Q — why should he have to apologize about that?
MS. MCENANY: I’m not going to answer a question a sixth time.
Mario.
Q But you haven’t answered that question. I mean, you’ve been asked it, but you haven’t answered it.
Q You haven’t answered it.
MS. MCENANY: Mario, go ahead.
Q Kayleigh, on the Confederate part: Why would the President not praise NASCAR for removing the Confederate flag, particularly given the history of that flag, the symbol that it has for African Americans, and also what it represents in terms of just the treasonous acts and the insurrection against the Republic?
MS. MCENANY: So —
Q Why would he not praise them for taking that down, even if it’s a ratings (inaudible)?
MS. MCENANY: The President takes great offense when Americans — our kneejerk reaction summed up as racist. And in aggregate, the picture being painted here in this instant — incident seemed to be that there was that suggestion there, when, in fact, what we’re seeing across the nation is this vast cancel culture where we’re going to tear down our monuments, we’re going to tear down Gandhi, we’re going to tear down George Washington, we’re going to tear down Lincoln.
It’s really quite appalling what we’ve seen happen across the country, and the President wants no part in cancel culture. He wants to no part in the tearing down and defacing of Matthias Baldwin, an abolitionist; Philadelphia Civil War soldiers; John Greenleaf Whittier vandalized, an abolitionist. He wants no part in this, and he stands against the demonization of Americans, and he stands firmly on the side of preserving our history.
Yes.
Q But, Kayleigh, the Confederate flag is a different issue.
MS. MCENANY: He’s not — I said from the very top of this briefing: He has not given an opinion one way or the other on that. I just spoke to him this morning.
Yes.
Q Kayleigh, why — what exactly does the President see as positive or uniting then about the Confederate flag? Why does he — why did he decide to tweet about it then, this morning?
MS. MCENANY: The President never used those words. Those are the words of a reporter, not that of the President of the United States.
{snip}
Q Thank you, Kayleigh. I wanted to say, first off, point of fact: Bubba Wallace did not make any kind of false report. And I’m wondering, in general, why the President thinks that issue is worth his time and focus right now in the midst of a deadly pandemic? And then also, you’ve said he has no opinion on the Confederate flag. Why can’t this White House unambiguously state whether or not it supports displays of the Confederate flag and —
MS. MCENANY: No, I said —
Q — Confederate monuments, which are much more —
MS. MCENANY: I said in his —
Q — a part of this question than Gandhi?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, I said that, you know, he was — his tweet was not to indicate approval or disapproval of that particular policy of NASCAR. It was in aggregate to stand against the rush to judgment to call something a hate crime before the facts were out, when clearly the media was wrong about this, when clearly —
Q But you said Bubba Wallace made a false report; he didn’t.
MS. MCENANY: I never said that. Perhaps one of the reporters said that, but I certainly did not.
But he believes that we should be — that the truth matters and that the truth was: The FBI did a thorough investigation, and what was concluded — that there was no hate crime here. And we should all be grateful for that; grateful that NASCAR fans came together in a great display of American unity around Mr. Wallace. But then we should also be equally unequivocal about the truth of this situation here and that most Americans are great, hardworking people.
Yes.
Q But why is this cultural stuff worth his time and —
MS. MCENANY: Yes.
Q — focus during the pandemic?
MS. MCENANY: Yes, he’s focused on two things at once, something we’re all capable of doing.
Q And what about on an unambiguous statement on the Confederate flag? Are we capable of doing that?
MS. MCENANY: Look, the President has made clear he was not taking a position one way or the other in that tweet.
Q Exactly. But why not?
MS. MCENANY: Yes. Yes.
Q Thanks, Kayleigh. Two quick questions, if I may. Does the President support the Cleveland Indians and the football team here in Washington considering changing their names?
MS. MCENANY: I haven’t spoken to the President on that.
Q And the other question: Who came up with the list of historical figures that the President wants honored in his — in his garden of statues that he put out this executive order about? Who came up with the list of people to be included?
MS. MCENANY: So, I don’t know exactly who came up with that list. I can ask about it, but it’s a pretty extraordinary list of people. I think we can all agree on the fact that great American heroes are people like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr. — these are incredible men and women in our history — Susan B. Anthony and Billy Graham. So I think we can all pretty much widely acknowledge that these are American heroes.
Yes.
{snip}
And I’ll leave you with this remark by a dad — it broke my heart — a dad of an eight-year-old lost in Atlanta this weekend: “They say black lives matter…you killed a child. She didn’t do nothing to nobody,” was his quote.
We need to be focused on securing our streets, making sure no lives are lost because all black lives matter — that of David Dorn and that of this eight-year-old girl.
Thank you.
END 1:51 P.M. EDT
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