06/08/20: Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany Holds a Press Briefing

Hello everyone, the transition to greatness has officially begun. Friday's jobs report was encouraging, to say the least. We had more than 2.5 million jobs in this country added. The prediction was that 7.5 million jobs would be lost. This was a 10 million turn towards the positive. and, in fact, the largest number of jobs created in a single month on record, that is, extraordinary: 225,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector, 464,000 jobs in construction and 1.2 million jobs in Leisure and hospitality were added in May, beyond the number of workers who reported being on temporary layoffs. It decreased by 2.7 million in May and more than that, and this was a great figure that the CEA pointed out to me today.

Three hundred and three hundred thousand jobs were created for black Americans in particular, that was in May and that was a 1.7 percent increase, so very encouraging numbers from the CEA that stood out to me. The BLS figures that stood out. Corn's jump in average weekly hours is also an encouraging sign because increasing hours are a sign that employees need to hire. Employers need to hire more workers to meet everyone's demand. The average weekly hours of private sector employees increased 0.5% to thirty-four point seven hours, the highest level since the series began in 2006. Seventy-three percent of small businesses are open, which represents an increase from 52 percent just before the April employment report reference period. workplace visits are up about 40 percent from their pandemic low the stock market is absolutely on the rise we saw with the SMP having its biggest 50-day rally in history the Dow is also booming the markets clearly have trust in president Trump the jobs president who created the hottest economy and modern history once and we will do it again also commentators and economists have noted how good this jobs report was yesterday we saw Mohamed el-erian, the Allianz's chief economic advisor, say this will go down in history as the biggest positive data shock to markets in the economy and you saw how surprised the markets were when they rose on Friday, capping a strong week with the Nasdaq closing at a record level.

He said it was also very surprising to economists, not a single one thought we would create jobs, they all expected the unemployment rate to rise, didn't they? Neil Irwin, senior economic correspondent for the New York Times, pointed out that we have to think that the May unemployment, the May employment numbers, count as a big victory for the PPP supporters, obviously, the president signed that law and has been a great defender of the PPP. Typical economists missed it by 10 million, as I pointed out at the top of the

briefing

, 10 million, that's almost the entire state of Michigan and that's how many economists got it wrong.

Why is this happening? Well, it's happening because America has taken note of the fact that we have a president who ushered in the hottest economy in modern history. Unemployment at record levels for black Americans, for Hispanic Americans, for the disabled, for our veterans, paychecks were starting to rise. In President Donald Trump's economy, we have the great job creator in office and America clearly has confidence in this president. You have a president who fundamentally understands how to get this country working again and we saw that in action with Friday's jobs report and with that. I'll take questions, so start with John, what does the president think about this growing movement to defund or dismantle police forces across the country and what reforms does the president think would be appropriate post-George?

Yes, it is a very good question. The president is dismayed by the defund the police movement, the fact that there are women in Congress who want to defund the police, particularly Rasheeda, to leave in particular Biden adviser AOC Alexandria Ocasio, cuts to a former Clinton and Eric Holder spokesman Brian Fallon, who wants to defund our police across this country. It's extraordinary and when you think that the left has come far and they couldn't go any further because we all remember the defund ice movement, they want to defund immigration and customs enforcement and now they wanted to fund the police, this is extraordinary, this is on going. bring back the protective layers that protect Americans in their homes and in their places of business, you are dismayed by it and it is remarkable to hear this coming from the Democratic Party today as far as solutions, you are talking about a series of proposals, there is no announcements about it, but definitely, as is.

He noted that he recognizes the horribleness and justice that was done to George Floyd and is looking at several proposals that the president agrees with any of the mayors around the country who said, "I think we can take some of the police money and put it into to other programs that could be effective in community development, which could lead to the possibility and less need for policing, let's be clear, the mayor of Los Angeles wants to defund the police, defund the police, a mayor of Blasio, the mayor of New York wants to take money away from the police, that means cutting the police, it means reducing police departments, that means defunding police departments, if not getting rid of them completely, no, not him. you agree with that and the rest of America doesn't agree with that, those are two questions for you, as you were going through your forms and what you think is necessary, does the president feel that there is systemic racism and enforcement of. the law?

The president has been very clear that there are judges in society. I have noticed several for you that you have pointed out as a Republican primary candidate and highlight the Sandra Bland video was absolutely horrible in pointing out that George Floyd there is a civil rights investigation and that he definitely believes in his cases of racism, but look, he believes that Our law enforcement agencies are the best in the world. He believes that, in general, the 750 who were there are good people. wounded by sending this country from Antifa rioters to the streets to distinguish from peaceful protesters those 750 officers who were injured defending our country or heroes like David Dorn, a police officer who lost his life, and Patrick Underwood, who also lost his life in the past week, does not believe there is systemic racism in the law.

He believes that most of our police officers are good working people and there is much evidence of that and he has great faith in our Police Department. Well, that is. Good question: Do you still think NFL players who kneel as a form of protest against police brutality should be fired? The president is very against kneeling in general. The president has made it clear for years that kneeling is tied to our National Anthem. He has no respect for our military men and women across this country. He's not a fan of the kneeling movement. He made it very clear, particularly because he believes it is disrespectful to our military, since kneeling originated during the national anthem.

I think they should be fired. I have no comment on him being against the kneeling movement, as he noted on Twitter just a few days ago. Yeah, I have no information on that and I haven't talked to him about any of the Democratic police bill that the administration. He supports, yes, that legislation, first of all, the text of it has not even been given to us. I haven't spoken to the president about that yet, he hasn't reviewed it yet, he's looking at a number of proposals, but there are some that don't - To start with, I would say that, particularly on the issue of immunity, there was a bar G that said that this He was asked about reduced immunity over the weekend and said, "I don't think we need to reduce immunity to go after bad cops because that would certainly work." and the police withdraw, which is not advisable, so he has not reviewed the legislation, but the attorney general, as a member of the administration, pointed out that before the proposal came out, does the administration support the ban on the use of the total look?

I didn't review this piece of legislation, the president is looking at what is a state issue and what is a federal issue right now. He's currently reviewing proposals on this very issue on police reform, so I'll leave that to him and not get ahead of myself on that, but we certainly believe that the appropriate amount of force should be used in any police interaction with an individual two weeks after all these civil unrest why the way the White House doesn't have a plan? The president said Friday that his plan because fighting racism is a strong economy, how does that work?

That's an important part of fighting racism. This is ensuring that there is equal opportunity for black Americans in this country. This president, you know, we heard a lot of words from Democrats about criminal justice reform. who wanted this, they got it with President Trump reducing racial disparities in sentencing through the first step supported, you know, Democrats talk about economic opportunities for black Americans over people in vulnerable communities and this president has done it with Opportunity Zones, it was a good start in more than 900 places that create private investment to help people get on their feet to start businesses in this country.

Record funding for HBCUs that this president has repeatedly provided through the actions of him I stood up for the Black community and a big part of that is absolutely economic reform. Lastly, a note on the point of economic reform in the US. MCA these trade deals, the TPP, making sure it didn't happen, directly benefited working men and women in Detroit who wanted their auto jobs, So its Reform with Trade, Reform with Trade and also Opportunity Zones is helping to ensure that Americans of all races have the same opportunity in the economic field. He says he will eventually have a police reform plan.

He is looking at several proposals, so I won't get ahead of myself. There are no announcements on that front, but he has been looking at them in recent days. Yes. There are reports that the administration is going to be us, Germany's troops, can you tell us how many, when and where they are going now? What I would say about this is first, we don't have any ads at this time. I know there are reports out there, but as of right now there are no announcements about the president's continued reassessment of the best posture for the United States military forces and our presence abroad.

I mean, we remain committed to working with our strong allies. We consulted Angela Merkel before making a final decision. She left it. to the president again, no announcements at this time, just an end, but the new Lafayette Square fence, do you have any indication on when it might be removed as the protests have become more peaceful? Yeah, you know, I don't have any announcements regarding the Shutdown that's not something that's under the control of the White House in terms of securing the perimeter, but what I would say is that the president has acknowledged that the protests have been largely peaceful.

Why have they been peaceful? It is due to the actions taken by this administration. Keep in mind, Minneapolis was in chaos until the National Guard came in and then secured what they had outside here in Lafayette Park. I noticed that the 750 law enforcement officers who were injured across the country, a fifth of them were in DC and the vast majority in Lafayette Park and once the National Guard arrived in DC it was safe that Monday, the president's decision Encouraging the governor to increase the National Guard made a difference and the president now recognizes that the protests are peaceful and recommended a very peaceful termination of the National Guard. protests over the weekend, so with respect to building security, it's not a White House decision, I would refer it to the Secret Service and the Park Service on that, but the president has acknowledged the peaceful protests and he encouraged.

Yes, Jeff Keely on Hong Kong. Can you tell us when the newts will administer on Hong Kong's trade status and do you also think that such a move would be the only thing the administration would do? Is there anything else planned? Do you think China will listen? Are you seeing any signs of trying to do so? relented in Hong Kong, yes, we haven't seen any updates from China so far, no announcements regarding the timing of that, but the president has been very clear that China replaced its promise of one country, two systems with one country , a system, which is What led the administration to make the announcement that it would begin removing the political exemptions that were given to Hong Kong, the special treatment they once had, a week after what we saw with much frequency last Monday night?

Now there are no people here in this.Who believes that or does the president believe that maybe things went the way they shouldn't have? Is there any regret on the part of the president or anyone here for how people peacefully protesting were treated and how they were rushed out? not so violently, there are no regrets on the part of this White House because look, I would like to point out that many of those decisions were not made here inside the White House, it was a bar G who made the decision to move the perimeter on Monday night evening.

Also the park police. they had made that decision independently when they resolved the violence in Lafayette Square and when before these protesters were moved by the Park Police and issued that tactical order, there were three strong warnings and, as I believe, the AG bar on Face the Nation noticed that some of those protesters backed away and I heard the warning but other of those protesters started throwing objects and that was unacceptable and the park police acted as they felt they should at that time in response and we support those actions that the country saw in the world. this violent confrontation between people who were otherwise peacefully protesting but in reality the president does not regret how things happened no, the president regrets the fact that Tifa wreaks havoc on our streets and the fact that some members of the media communication didn't notice that like CNN's Chris Cuomo saidShow me where it says protesters are supposed to be peaceful.

Well, he would point to the First Amendment where he says you have the right to cite a peaceful assembly. He should go back and read the Constitution. There are many others out there that Don Lemon says. that he writes a mechanism to restructure our country by burning st. John is using an image to literally carve, as we saw in that video, concrete from the sidewalk to throw at officers who are not peacefully protesting. The actors in the rioters' actions were not in line with the First Amendment and I think the media needs to recognize. There is a discernment between the peaceful protesters (many of whom I have seen) and the rioters and yes, the United States will act against the rioters and yes, under President Trump he will not allow buildings to be burned, 150 federal buildings to be defaced and 750 law enforcement officers are injured. our country, can I ask you one more time if I like the blue suit?

Just to continue, you know that the burning of st. John happened on Sunday nights and a lot of the violence you're talking about happened on Sunday night, which he asked about on Monday, when, as anyone who was there knows, it was almost exclusively peaceful, especially the moments before that chemical munitions were used. about those protesters, do you want to clarify that about the burning of st. John is that it happened on a different day, yes, the burning of st. John is what drove the decision to move the perimeter is what drove Park to say that that night the perimeter should be moved is what drove yes to a bar AG requested to agree with that decision on Monday morning that it was necessary to move the perimeter, but when you throw objects at the park police when you don't move after three orders are given.

Park Police acted appropriately when the Park Police shield was knocked down when a person attempted to grab a Park Police officer's gun which is not peaceful by any definition of the word. The area in front of the White House is now officially known as Blacklivesmatter Plaza. Does the president agree with that decision? I haven't spoken to him about it. I haven't mentioned it to him. Yeah, he's fine, he just generally agreed in the same way as Mitt Romney. He said over the weekend that he does it with the central message that black lives matter. Yes, Mitt Romney can say three words outside on Pennsylvania Avenue, but I would point out that President Trump won eight percent of the black vote.

Mitt Romney won two percent of the black vote. He believed that President Trump, people across the country recognized that, while Mitt Romney has a lot of words, he in particular he said that 47% of the nation depends on the government. He believes they are victims. He believes the government has a responsibility to take care of them. Those were the words of Mitt Romney. not long ago the president was very offended by those words that's not America, guess what America is, it's when given the opportunity through Trump's own belief of an opportunity that Americans of all races they can rise to the occasion and manage to believe in HBCUs and giving Fundy record funding. to HBCUs because we need to allow education in our country and school choice, those types of actions by the president contrast sharply with the very empty words of Senator Romney yes no, the president is talking about the protest, he has talked about the death of George Floyd, but you have not yet given a formal address to the nation, why do you have that and other plans for you to do so in the short term?

So the president has addressed the nation about this. I know several media outlets chose not to cover it, but when he was in Florida last Saturday he said and I have it all here, as he said many times that the death of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis was a serious tragedy that should never have happened. He spent several minutes going through this. in fact, half of his speech he said: I understand the pain people feel, we support the right of peaceful protesters, we hear their pleas and he went on and on and said on Monday: I am your law and order president and an ally of peaceful protesters, so he said it, some of the media has chosen not to cover it, those words are there and they are documented, yes, thank you very much, obviously, we are hearing a very optimistic message from the president about the employment numbers and the Actions. market recovery, but in an executive order Thursday night the president said he had determined that without intervention the U.S. faced the likelihood of a long economic recovery with high unemployment attending.

I'm just wondering why we're hearing real messages from the president and how the American people are supposed to feel about the economy for the rest of me, oh yeah, the president sees Friday. as a big step toward what he ultimately wants, which is this growing economy that we had where paychecks were growing and, at best, for low-income workers, we were in a very good place before he decided to stop the economy to save 2.1 million lives. Potentially, then he took the necessary steps at the time that he wants to get us back to that place that we were at, he is the one who can do it.

He has noted that there will be a recovery time. He thinks you know part four will be good. next year will be great Monday was great I'm an unexpected note that the market believes in this president that employers believe in this president that baby they believe they can open their doors in the Trump economy so it was a great note first time step of progress, but rest assured there are many more steps we have to take to get back to the hottest economy in modern history, but we will get there under President Trump. Yes, New York City began reopening its economy today after a very long lockdown.

President Trump thinks we need another coronavirus stimulus package, and if so, what would he like to see in it before he signs it? Yes, he has remained open to a phase four. There was some discussion about this. There was a meeting last week at the White House about that. so I won't get ahead of him, but he has said that there are several things that he wants the payroll tax exemption to be one of them because it directly benefits low-income workers in several other things that he would like to see in the package and that they won't get. he's ahead of him, but he's certainly still open to a phase four, but it can't be, as he's pointed out, he's just stuck with local bailouts for blue states that have ruined their states because of decades of Democratic policies.

Thanks kami, could you support President Trump? an actual increase in funding to help offset some of the damage it could cause, yes, again, that would be getting ahead of the president on that exact proposal, but he's been very clear that he does not support defunding the police in any way. In fact, it was pointed out to me a moment ago that we've seen that violent crime couldn't go down in this country and why the moment violent crime goes down, why would we defund the police, who are largely responsible for help America get to a place where our streets are safe, so I would point that out to you and before you got ahead of the president, there was a specific policy being developed around defending this movement, how does it impact the crime scene?

Here you said: I'm sorry. I don't realize defunding the police, but how does it affect the crime scene? Public transportation may be sufficient. Do you think that will affect crime? Yes, absolutely, look, our police officers are the ones who defend this country to ensure that we have law and order. on our streets and there is no more evidence of that than simply taking a look at the raw numbers that describe our police as the blue line in American society between peace and chaos, between order and anarchy, and that thin line Blue has done quite a bit by looking at the 2018 numbers arrest for murder 11 1970 arrest for robbery 88 thousand 130 aggravated assault 395 thousand eight hundred arrests for violent crimes 495 thousand nine hundred are the police officers who are making the arrest, eliminate the police officers , you will have criminal chaos in anarchy in the streets and that is something that is unacceptable to the president of a political nature with political motives this movement this movement what the president believes is look when he looks I would only take his own words black lives matter DC and Black Lives Matter DC said Black Lives Matter means funding the police, so if that's what the movement means, of course the president opposes defunding the police.

All black lives matter, including the life of David Dorn, who passed away in the last week and a half, including Patrick under Word Wood, who also lost his life this week. all black lives matter, but in terms of the movement, black lives matter, they defined themselves as defunding the police and that's something this president opposes. Frank yes, black people are disproportionately arrested and incarcerated in this country and when they return to society they are often denied the right to vote sometimes for the rest of their lives, is the president concerned about this disparity and is he Please restore the rights of all those serving their sentences so that they can participate in the 2020 elections?

That's why I haven't spoken to him. on that topic specifically, but what I would like to point out is that your question is close to the notion of criminal justice reform, obviously someone who is unjustly imprisoned, we need to address that situation and the president has with the First Step Act a great piece of legislation that says pregnant women cannot be shackled when they are going to have their baby in prison. These are basic common sense human decency reforms that the president implemented. the sentencing disparities that are at play because of the Violent Crimes Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. that crime bill that has been ridiculed, and rightly so, by civil rights leaders, its president helped partly rectify that and I would like to point out that the first step back is that the beneficiaries, over 90% of Americans were black, so this is a president who has always stood. on the side of justice, but I haven't talked to him specifically about that.

Is there anyone there? Bo replied: Yes, Emily, thank you. I would like to ask a question on my behalf and then one from a colleague who can make sure there were so many complaints filed against Derrick Chauvin before Floyd's death and I was wondering if President Trump believes that disciplinary records and complaints against police , as well as police personnel files, should be accessible to the public. States have different laws on this but there should be a minimum national standard on police transparency regarding these complaints, yes it's a good question but again it would get to what the president is going to propose in the future so I won't address it. that nor will I get ahead of that, but The particular incidents referencing George Floyd were atrocious and that needs to be looked at and is being looked at not only at the state level but I also loved the Department of Justice, thank you and from a colleague , President Trump urges Prince Andrew to deliver. with his Department of Justice's request for an interview in the case against Jeffrey Epstein, I haven't spoken to him about that, so I wouldn't get ahead of him on that, John, are you thinking about returning, if not for a session daily news about coronavirus?

In frequent sessions

briefing

s about the coronavirus and about reopening, the president said that we hope that he will continue to monitor the situation and that if any state was doing something but he did not consider it appropriate, he would intervene as president in any of these. reopening particularly as coronavirus cases are increasing, which could be in part due to increased testing, if you see anything that concerns you then I would point this out first: My doctor Burk sent me new information before coming here that the New cases have stabilized and many new cases are being identified through proactive monitoring and searching for asymptomatic cases.

Today we saw the lowest new mortality report since late March, less than 500 and testing continues to expand with more than 20 million performed and more than six percent of Americans being tested and in seven states they account for almost ten percent of population, so we are headed in a positive direction even as we begin to reopen safely. Yes, as the president saw and something that concerns him, I would like to point out again the encouraging signs presented by dr. Burks has seen the country reopen safely and I would also like to point out some of the media contradictions here, certainly not about you specifically John, but a little more broadly, which there aren't any, and I will cry about social distancing between the protests and I mean, I saw a network with images of the Ozarks and complaining about social distancing and those arches and then seamlessly transitioning to protest images and not suggesting that there was a problem with the lack of social distancing, so I think that we have to be very consistent.

I'm here and a note I really wanted to make, shouldn't we have done this sooner? But I think what's important is that there's so much focus on our police officers right now that there are absolute cases of injustice that break our hearts. For those cases, but I just want to point out some of the great things that our police did last year just in Alaska. Retired police officer Castro jumped into the icy water to help victims get to safety after a plane crash in Idaho. A woman said she saved my son's life. commenting on a police officer who saved her disabled son in Maine a detective was killed while helping a motorist in Rhode Island an officer saved a choking baby in Maryland an officer was hailed for intervening in an active shooter incident Police North Carolina led to mass shooting in Ohio police took down mass shooter at bar in Wisconsin terminally ill girl visited by 40 officers and canines in New York officers buy NYPD officer Roman responded to an incident involving a homeless man they bought him new glasses, a haircut, and a new suit and helped him find a job in Detroit, Michigan, an officer helped a homeless man struggling to shave on the streets and could see Virginia officers playing with girls playing dolls with them in the street and in Arizona, Charlie called 911. asking for a Happy Meal confusing the sheets by mistake and the police delivered, these are our excellent law enforcement officers and we must remember that, thank you very much.