05/06/20: Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany Holds a Press Briefing

Good afternoon everyone. I would like to direct your attention to a very encouraging graph on test results. It will be over my shoulder and hopefully on the screen for those of you watching on TV, as this graph shows that the United States has completed seven points today. Five million coronavirus tests is an extraordinary number and, as you can see, the United States leads the world in testing. This graph is no accident, in fact, this graph is a testament to American innovation, including the work of the Trump administration, for example, the FDA has issued more than 70 x' emergency use authorizations to expand the capacity of tests to accelerate the development of therapies and vaccines.

There are nearly 80 clinical trials underway and 30 additional clinical trials are expected. This graph is also a testament to the American people who have been, and this is no exaggeration, American. warriors while following social distancing guidelines and taking steps to ensure the health and safety of our vulnerable populations are protected. Finally, I would like to point out that this graph indicates that the US has conducted twice as many tests as other countries in the world. us. is providing leadership during this crisis, not only leading the world in testing, but also taking steps to help allies around the world, steps we can take only because of the incredible ingenuity and work ethic of this country, as you well know, President Trump has consistently sided. with the experts and has always prioritized the health and safety of the American people.

This includes issuing guidelines that meant working Americans should stay home with social distancing and slow the spread of the virus. The hard work of Americans saved many lives and we salute the great citizens. of this country for their hard work while Americans across the country stayed home and businesses temporarily closed their doors. President Trump made sure American employees and employers got the help they needed. The Paycheck Protection Program provided forgivable loans to small business owners who kept their employees on the payroll. To date, 2.3 million small business loans have been processed, with the average loan being seventy-six thousand dollars, In other words, meaning the small businesses that needed the help the most got it.

I would remind everyone that of the 1.6 million loans given in the first tranche of spending, 1 million of them, went to businesses with 10 or fewer employees, so it really went to those who need it most. Josh Amis is a small business owner Joe and his co-founder Brian Stuart are two military veteran special operators who started flags of valor in 2015 is a veteran-owned, veteran-led manufacturing company located not far from here in Virginia flags of Valor manufactures wooden flags among other products that have employed over the years 65 veterans and have raised more than $1,000,000 for veteran charities Flags of Valor is also proud to have 97 thousand hours of American manufacturing labor in under his belt, many hours at the beginning of this crisis.

Joe had to furlough four of his employees and, in addition to imposing a 50% pay cut, his employees were disappointed, of course, but they were quoted in his words. Everything in the fight against coronavirus. Everything changed for Joe and his furloughed employees when he applied for the PPP loan. This week he was approved for that PPP loan that allowed Flags of Valor to rehire its employees. furlough employees and increase paychecks to pre-coronavirus levels. The PPP was a great lifesaver for us. Joe told me that he called it a lifesaver. This is a perfect example of why President Trump fought for additional PPP funding and will continue to fight for small businesses and Americans. heroes like Joe Joe are here with me today and I would like to invite you to come Joe, thank you so much for your service, thank you for all the great work that you have done for our veterans and for being a veteran.

I wanted to see if you would come up to the podium for a minute or two and share your message of hope with the American people. I would love to thank you Kaylee and President Trump for allowing me to be here today. I have a couple of accessories for this. There are examples of one of our products that we made and here's another one that my son Gabriel made and when you talk about hope and what's happening is a challenging time for small businesses, we lost thirds of our income like that. so trying to get that back when you think about a small business that typically has a two-thirds profit margin of 10 to 20 percent is deadly and so when you think about the Paycheck protection program, the two biggest fixed costs for most businesses it's people and property and that's exactly what the PPP focused on, so for us it was a lifesaver, it was an absolute game changer.

We went from trying to figure out how we were going to limit our cash spending every day to staying alive as long as possible. with as many people as we could to finally bring them back and when you have to fire someone, I tell you it's one of the worst things you can do because you're talking about family, these are people, these are their wives, their husbands. His children are part of his spirit and so what we have experienced has been a challenge for Shore, but when there has not been all the income, there has been people helping other people and what we addressed was how can we be better, as we can.

We left Cove at 19 years old a better version of ourselves, how can we innovate? So we saw people like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the SBA stepped in, we saw our partners, Under Armour, we saw innovation, you see companies making respiratory masks, you see everyone. All kinds of things were happening and we created the flag boat kit because families were at home with their children and they didn't know what to do with their children and we believe that this is the family crest of our nation, so what better thing to allow let families build America. flags together and we talked about it and what it means and then we started a twice daily engagement at 9:00 a.m. m. in the morning on the east coast and again at 9:00 a.m. m. on the west coast every day we have thousands of children and their families join us to say the Pledge of Allegiance, it's phenomenal and everything that's happening when people come together, people think and innovate and I can't ex

press

enough how grateful we are to the US government for the bipartisanship that took place. to get through the Paycheck protection program it was all hand in hand, it wasn't like there was a script for this and they built the parachute on the way down and when you think about it you want to talk about the Lakers, God or someone else.

Think about the millions of companies that are benefiting from this and 47% of US private sector employees are in small businesses that they work for, so all the big companies we love started out small companies and I hope to be a great company. send a message someday, but for now I'm happy to be alive. I'm grateful for your support and thank you Kaylee for letting me be here, so join us at Flags of Our Calm. Thanks Joe, if you want to take a seat with the reporters. You can ask me some questions Joe, it's veterans like you that make our country great, it's small business owners like you that will bring this country back and it's employees like the one we heard about last week Michael Hoyt, the employee of Idiom Beau's Coffee, are the ones who keep this country going.

Thank you so much for the example you've set for hardworking business owners across the country and employees across the country who are working during this time, so thank you Joe, thank you for your service, like I said, PPP has changed. lives all over this country and as President Trump has said that the American people are warriors and we will fight together to defeat the invisible enemy and with that I will answer questions thank you Kaylee just for coming back to this decision that was supposedly made yesterday the idea of ​​which was initially to end the White House carnival, our working group looks, I would just refer you to the president's comments.

He's been asked this like four times today. I think he decided that the coronavirus task force is here to stay. They have done a great job. I have witnessed it. I am in the coronavirus task force meetings and they have helped our country get through this. There were supposed to be 2.2 million deaths and we're at a point where we're well below that thanks to the great work of the task force and President Trump's leadership of the idea, which really made everything will calm down again. I won't go any further, the president has answered this four times today.

I only asked about masks, so there was some back and forth about the president. wear a mask yesterday I don't want to ask about that, but the opinion of the White House what is the message from the White House to the American people Does the White House the president believe that people should wear masks because they are trying to go back to some? A semblance of normal life is recommended, as we posted, but that is the individual's choice as to whether he wears a mask or not. The president yesterday, the CEO of Honeywell said there was no need and that's why he followed that advice and that guidance. and you know, I would like to point out in the mask note that seventy million ninety-five masks have been distributed across the country, 20 million 25 million rather, what is used in an average year for our healthcare workers, so in a few weeks to have distributed almost three times what is used in a year is extraordinary and that's not to mention the 120 million surgical masks and the many other supplies that this president has and I'm sure you've seen in several holes that there is a huge difference between Democrats and Republicans on whether or not they believe it is necessary to wear a mask, evaluate why that would not make sense, why that would be the case, that is the individual's choice on the part of the American public as to whether to wear a mask or not, but again I commend the extraordinary work of this administration and distributing those masks and ensuring that health care providers are okay, we were just talking about the mass that said it, honey, well, the people of Honeywell told the president, as did the team, that he did not need to wear masks, the reason he was told was because everyone who would interact with him had been tested and found to be negative before that happened. , I guess the president had those circumstances, obviously he's the president, but why shouldn't every American returning to work be able to get tested before they do so to feel comfortable in their own work environment and interact with other people ?

A single American in this country right now we have to retest them an hour later and then an hour later because at any point you could theoretically get this virus, so the notion that everyone needs to get tested It is simply absurd. to be evaluated are vulnerable populations that is why dr. Burks has repeatedly emphasized that we need to look at nursing homes with meat processing facilities for testing, that's where testing is needed, we need to be strategic with our testing and we've done that so far and again, you know, if we want to talk about testing and the volume of testing the fact that in South Korea we always hear about South Korea and testing there are 11 tests per thousand here in the United States than 17 tests per thousand our hot spots per capita are higher than others countries that we have twice as many tests as other countries around the world.

We are in a very strong place in this testing country, but rest assured, we will implement it strategically because that is what the American public expects of us, Father. Sure, I guess people should accept the risk of getting sick if they go back to work well. Each and every state has implemented this is a governor-led effort. First, let me emphasize that the president has said that governors make the decisions about how to move forward and we encourage them to follow our phased approach, each state has presented us with a list of tests they need to reopen safely.

He was sitting in the meeting when Admiral Zhao brought out the list for several states and said, here are the tests that you were asked to open safely here are the tests that I am giving you to meet that need. It's quite extraordinary, this large-scale effort by the Trump administration to ensure that states have what they need so that as states reopen, they do so. so safely and they will do it with supplies from the Trump administration, they say that many of those governors in those days are not following the guidelines that the president dictated from this podium, we encourage everyone andeach of the governors.

To follow the guidelines that we've proposed for a phased reopening approach, we have this beautiful concept called federalism, which means the state leads this and that's what we're doing. It is a decision directed by the governor, but we encourage everyone to follow the expert-written guidelines we have put forward. I have a question about reopening, but first, some of the areas that have been hardest hit by coronavirus have been urban areas, what is the White House doing or is there any specific effort? to help stop the spread in communities in the morning, yes, it's a very important question because we know that some of our underserved communities are the hardest hit by the coronavirus.

Absolutely, we have done enough. First, I have invested $1.4 billion in our nation's 13,000 community centers ensuring that 28 million people living in medically underserved areas receive funding. Also that announcement that I had for us last week about hospital funding, two billion dollars of that was specifically geared toward ensuring that men and women in underserved communities and those hospitals got that money and you would also know that the president has directed Secretary Ben Carson to focus the White House Revitalization and Opportunity Council on underserved communities, so it's very important that this is a community that has been hit hard and you can rest assured that we are.

The laser was focused on ensuring these communities receive assistance, so the task force has laid out additional phased measures for states' reopening and individual guidelines, but hasn't said much about businesses specifically. Do you plan to publish detailed guidelines for companies such as retailers? and restaurants to reopen well with a phased approach, there are some recommendations on how, for example, a restaurant should reopen with the required distancing and as the phases progress, the distancing is reduced and there are other mechanisms that are outlined for restaurants and movies. theaters and sports facilities, so I would say our phased approach takes that into account in each and every state.

By the way, the governor can communicate with us, we communicate constantly with the governor and when I say we are the administration, I mean dr. Burks and others, so we will be happy to consult with respect to specific details, some other body external to the organizations, how quickly you know, this is very detailed, step by step, this is what you need to do. If you need maps, you should require them to sit at this distance. should only have half open in phases, kind of like we've put together a phased approach, a lot of those guidelines are in, we've consulted individually with the states, but like I said, it's a government governor led effort in the government led effort by the state that the federal government will consult and we do it every day, so they usually praise the surprise warriors every day.

Americans, the president also uses that phrase, what is the idea behind using that description? and he's basically asking Americans to put themselves in the path of harm like warriors don't do it in the slightest, it's actually the opposite, you know, the president has been clear that right now you know we're in a time of war when we are fighting the invisible enemy and by that I mean 19 kovat and in the Contrary to the notion that the American people are warriors, they are warriors because they stayed home, they are warriors because they have social distance, it is warrior because this mitigation effort is something that can only be done if the American people come together. and making really tough sacrifices and the American public has done that and we salute each of you across the country who have heard these guidelines.

I know it has been difficult, I know it has been difficult, but it is because of you that we are in this place where we can reopen the country, of course, that is the opposite of what the president says specifically because he says that Americans must be warriors to reopen the economy. The president says they are warriors to reopen because, guess what to get to the reopening you have to socially distance? You had to put together those very difficult decisions that allowed us to get to a point where we have one of the lowest mortality rates. rates in the world and that's because of the American people, so it took the American people to be warriors to get us to the point of reopening as best practices, but first about China and some of the comments that the president made in the Office Oval, said there will be a report coming out next week, in about ten days, on whether or not they are honoring the agreement with China as it stands, but right now, how does the White House view the United States?

The relationship with China right now is one of disappointment and frustration because the president has said how frustrated he is that some of China's decisions put American lives at risk. I will share only a few that China, for example, did not share. genetic sequence until a professor in Shanghai did it on his own and after that genetic sequence was shared the next day, the laboratory was closed for rectification. The World Health Organization's slow reporting on human-to-human transmission that was not adequately provided by China China did not let us researchers in and it appears those decisions put American lives at risk and the president is certainly not happy about that and as the president said, you'll hear more about that below, sorry, they can be reliable trading partners.

The president worked with China and stood up to China and made Phase One of the deal with China a big victory. 250 billion dollars. The president managed to do it and the president appreciates that China got us to that point in Phase One of the agreement with China. I know that I will leave it up to the President how to move forward and I will certainly do so ahead of him in terms of the best practices that we heard the President say in relation to schools that he wants to see open schools, but maybe older teachers. over 60 are not necessarily returning to the classroom when you talk about reopening the economy, reopening the country again, there are a lot of people wondering, well, should my school-aged child have contact again with a family member who might be over 60? 60 years. per se, what is the advice from the White House on this and are families across the country saying whether it's time to be reunited?

Well, the president, the task force has been clear that vulnerable Americans are older people who need to shelter in place and need to take additional precautionary measures because, as we know, they have been disproportionately affected by the corona virus, so I would certainly include the senior community in continuing to follow the guidelines that we have proposed, dr. Burks has mentioned many books about asymptomatic corona virus cases and without more widespread testing, how do you control something like this and how do you keep people symptom-free from the disease spreading across the country? Yes, it is an important question that we get information on. asymptomatic spread when we go back to testing at meat processing facilities and other facilities, you know, we can test strategically and it's important that once we do the testing and we find out that I'm an example of someone who has the corona virus with whom we can contact, trace and make sure that it does not spread to other members of the community, so contact tracing is an important measure and we are testing strategically and in line with Governor John, what is the process that can lead to that distribution and access to REM disappear.

Yes, Brenda Sever is a great example of innovation. In this country, I would like to point out that REM dis aveer is a drug that the president mentioned quite frequently and it turns out that there is a lot of hope and a lot of promises when it comes to the stern decision that was announced by the president of Gilead and the CEO of Gilead, Daniel O. 'Day announced that they would donate 1.5 million vials of Ramdev Severe and work with the federal government to distribute them to patients across the country to get this out there and we believe Gili heralds the great work they have done and for giving them these 1.5 million vials that will help many Americans around the world, but what is the process to distribute it and give patients access?

I don't have any information about it so far, but once I have it I can share it with you, the president. He said yesterday that he doesn't love Dr. Fauci testifies on camera because she is full of Trump haters, how is that consistent with oversight and transparency? Well, first of all, but the president noted that it was specific to the chamber, it is important to note that the doctor considered that you will testify before the Senate, which means that he will nevertheless feel the chamber questions from both Democrats and of the Republicans, and specifically President Nita Lowey.

I did not act in good faith. Meadows had three calls with Chairwoman Nita Lowey three nights ago when she called the task doctor and felt she could testify before a subcommittee. The audience and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have made it clear that he wants to make the best use of the task force members' time, of course, they are working hard to save American lives, so that is very important. and, to that end, he said in all three phone calls. calls do you know what the purpose of this hearing is, can you give me the topic? and LOI couldn't tell the chief of staff what the issue was.

The last phone call they had was at 10:40 6:00 p.m. That night and the LOI agreed to follow up in the morning with details, those details were never received, instead we received a

press

release, so that's what we call a publicity stunt. We encourage the House to act in good faith, but much like the Senate did. I noticed dr. Fauci will speak in a week and a half before the Senate, so the idea that he is being blocked is simply a farce about the way the death toll is calculated. Does he think maybe the real number is lower?

So the president responded to this and I said no just moments ago in the Oval Office about the death rate. I would like to point out that, as I pointed out a few moments ago, we have one of the lowest mortality rates in the world. This is because of the hard work of the American people to protect our mortality. The rate, excuse me, is currently 218 per million. Does it compare with that of Spain with 548 per million? Italy with 485 per million. This country is in a place where thanks to the work of the American people we have escaped that 2.2 million figure due to the extraordinary effort of social distancing. implemented by the American people, the president has said it many times when receiving praise in phone calls with foreign leaders due to this administration's response to the corona virus outbreak, who exactly are those heads of state and heads of government praising this administration. for his response, well, I won't reveal any content of his private conversations with world leaders, but I will certainly share some of the public comments from Democratic governors like Gavin Newsom, who said that every direct request from President Trump that he had been given an El President Trump was able to meet, he met with them.

Governor Phil Murphy, Democrat of New Jersey, the president knows that New Jersey, he and his team have been extremely responsive in our hour of need, whether it's ventilators, we got a lot of supplies to test and of course, I love them those of Governor Andrew Cuomo, who praised the response of this administration is phenomenal, saying that he delivered the Army Corps of Engineers to New York, we built thousands of beds, he sent the Navy ship Comfort to New York, he delivered to the President of NY. Trump has delivered for this nation. Thank you. The president was talking earlier about Dr.

Brilliant being a disgruntled employee, one of the allegations in that whistleblower complaint is that in January, when there was still a major shortage of 95 masks, he, excuse me, had been in contact with a company that offered up to a million of those masks and I couldn't get anyone that HHS was willing to collaborate with that company that then exported 1 million and 95 to China. It's something you're investigating or concerned about, okay, Tom, in matters of dr. Brilliant, would recommend to HHS. I'm not going to get into the personnel issues or the substance of that complaint, but I will again.

I know you mentioned masks delivered over 70 million and again, that's three times the amount used by healthcare. suppliers in a given year, so we've done a pretty good job when it comes to supplies, going back to the question about teachers and what the president said earlier about keeping those over 60 out of the classrooms, What is the message that Americansshould older people receive? They don't do anything, they don't meet in their homes until there is a vaccine or what would the president ask them to do if they are not allowed to teach because they are that age.

Well, our task force has said that vulnerable communities, like our seniors, should shelter in place. He said we encourage all Americans if they have a pressing symptom that they need to go to their doctor. It has disturbed me to read many quotes from doctors. I am stories of people who stay home with chest pain and don't go. to the hospital when they could be about to have a heart attack and miss important appointments like mammograms, screenings like colonoscopies, it is important that we as Americans continue to go to our doctors for medically necessary procedures and when we have symptoms that be addressed, such as chest pain, you should see your doctor, so if seniors need to see their doctors, be sure to call their healthcare provider.

Go see your healthcare provider. Go to the hospital if you have a symptom like that. for you a topic about the house in a separate chamber in functions DNI Rick renowned has declared this week that he is prepared to publish about 6,000 pages of transcripts related to atomic changes and you may ask if the executive branch is carrying out some type of investigation into House members or potential ones at home are doing it or is it something they can comment on yet. I don't have any information on that topic. First time I've heard that just because of Jeff's question about dr. stock market and the president's statement that there are too many Trump haters in the House, I mean, does the White House really believe that it can be decided to have officials testify in the Republican-controlled Senate but not testify in the Republican-controlled House?

Democrats? The house has legitimate oversight and legitimate responsibility, not only not just the authority that you already know, but also the responsibility for someone like Anthony Fauci to testify well, dr. Fauci will be questioned by Democrats at that Senate hearing. Yes what the you said? Then, the Senate fines. The House has no role in oversight. The House needs to act in good faith. We don't have time in the middle of a pandemic for publicity stunts. It's not the time for that it's not the place for that and over the course of time, over the course of three phone calls, you should be able to provide the topic to make sure it's the best use of dr.

The Fauci era, as you yourself pointed out, and the Republican-controlled Senate, dr. In fact, Democrats will ask Falchi questions about this race in a previous life, before you were press

secretary

, worked for the campaign, and made a comment, I believe, on Fox that your President Trump won't let the coronavirus arrives in this country given what has happened since then, obviously, would you like to take it back? Well, first let me point out that I was asked a question on Fox Business about the president's travel restrictions. I looked at what the intent was behind those travel restrictions, which is that we won't see the coronavirus come here. we will not see terrorism coming here referring to a previous set of travel restrictions.

I guess I would turn the question back to the media and ask similar questions. Does Voxx want to retract their claim that the coronavirus would not be a deadly pandemic? The Washington Post wants to take back that they told Americans to get a grip, the flu is bigger than the coronavirus, which is the Washington Post. In the same way, the Washington Post wants to retract that our brains are causing us to exaggerate the threats of the coronavirus, will the New York Times? to retract that fear can be expressed that the virus will spread faster than the virus itself, NPR wants to retract that the flu was a much bigger threat than the corona virus, and finally, once again, the Washington Post tells would like to retract, but the government should not respond aggressively to the corona virus.

I'll leave you with those questions, but maybe you'll have some answers in a few days.