PRESS BRIEFINGS

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany
Issued on: May 15, 2020

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
2:40 P.M. EDT

MS. MCENANY: Hello, everyone. Sorry we’re a little late today. As you know, the President had two events this morning, so we didn’t want our unprecedented transparency to get in the way of lunch, so we’re glad that you all had a few moments there to eat. So our delay was hopefully useful and helpful to you guys.

I have an announcement on the Trump administration’s unwavering support for our farmers. Today, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and senior advisor Ivanka Trump announced the launch of the Farmers to Families Food Box program. This is a $3 billion program to support farmers and provide food to our most vulnerable communities. Senior advisor Ivanka Trump and Secretary Perdue are doing very good work.

Now I would like to focus on the Trump administration’s unprecedented coronavirus response. Some have erroneously suggested that the Trump administration threw out the pandemic response playbook left by the Obama-Biden administration. What the critics fail to note, however, is that this thin packet of paper was replaced by two detailed, robust pandemic response reports commissioned by the Trump administration. So we exchanged this one, which I will hand over to my assistant, Lyndee, for these two pandemic response plans.

In 2018, the Trump administration issued our Pandemic Crisis Action Plan, one of the binders that I just handed to Lyndee. Further, from August 13th to the 16th, the Trump administration conducted the Crimson Contagion 2019 Functional Exercise. This was a pandemic stimulation [simulation] to test the nation’s ability to respond to a large-scale outbreak.

In January of 2020, HHS issued the Crimson Contagion 2019 Functional Exercise After-Action Report. That was one of the additional documents that I just handed over. This exercise expounded upon — exposed, rather, the shortcomings in legacy planning documents, which inform President Trump’s coronavirus response, beginning as early as January. And those legacy planning document shortcomings were, in fact, the papers that I just handed over, that were provided to us by the Obama-Biden administration.

For example, President Trump’s Crimson After-Action Report highlighted that the Obama-era policy directive from November 2016, quote — and I’m quoting from the document — “Does not provide the requisite mechanisms or processes to effectively lead the coordination of the federal government’s response.” Instead, President Trump established the White House Coronavirus Task Force and put Vice President Pence in charge of the interagency response. These were effective decisions, and they undoubtedly enhanced our response to the coronavirus.

Furthermore, what Crimson Contagion taught us is that President Trump was right all along about misguided economic and trade policies that left Americans vulnerable to pandemics.

In June 2016 — so, many, many years ago — then-businessman Donald Trump said this: quote, “America became the world’s dominant economy by becoming the world’s dominant producer…I have visited cities and towns across this country where a third or even half of manufacturing jobs have been wiped out in the last 20 years. Today, we import nearly $800 billion more in goods than we export. This is not some natural disaster. It is politician-made disaster.” That was then-candidate Trump, who has now implemented those policies as President Trump.

{snip}

Q So, I have a follow-up question. So I’m just asking that because it seemed to take so long to get more masks and swabs and whatnot, which they’re still dealing with now.

But my other question is on Rick Bright. The President said yesterday that he probably should not be working in federal government anymore, but he is now expected to start his new job next week. Does the President still welcome him starting that new position? And can you clarify exactly what that job is?

MS. MCENANY: Well, it’s interesting to ask about whether Rick Bright should start in a position, because Rick Bright hasn’t showed up for a position. He was transferred to lead a bold new $1 billion testing program. He’s not yet shown up for work. He takes a $285,000 salary. That’s extraordinary for a federal government salary. And he is still on taxpayer-funded medical leave so he can work with partisan attorneys to malign this President. So Mr. Bright — he should perhaps show up for the job that he currently has.

{snip}

Q So, I have a follow-up question. So I’m just asking that because it seemed to take so long to get more masks and swabs and whatnot, which they’re still dealing with now.

But my other question is on Rick Bright. The President said yesterday that he probably should not be working in federal government anymore, but he is now expected to start his new job next week. Does the President still welcome him starting that new position? And can you clarify exactly what that job is?

MS. MCENANY: Well, it’s interesting to ask about whether Rick Bright should start in a position, because Rick Bright hasn’t showed up for a position. He was transferred to lead a bold new $1 billion testing program. He’s not yet shown up for work. He takes a $285,000 salary. That’s extraordinary for a federal government salary. And he is still on taxpayer-funded medical leave so he can work with partisan attorneys to malign this President. So Mr. Bright — he should perhaps show up for the job that he currently has.

{snip}

Q Thank you, Kayleigh. So the President has called for transparency in the — what he calls “Obamagate.” Is he willing to declassify the transcript of General Flynn’s call to Sergey Kislyak so everyone can see what was said on that call?

MS. MCENANY: I’ve not asked him that. What I know that he would like to see right now is the lost 302 — apparently lost 302. We know a 302 is a summary of an interview that the FBI did with Michael Flynn that has apparently gone missing. So we would really be quite curious to see what transpired in that 302 after the FBI pontificated, quote, “getting Flynn to lie” so that they could get him fired or prosecuted.

Yes.

Q Thank you, Kayleigh. When will the White House open talks with House Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer on the HEROES Act? Have there been any informal talks occurring? And does the White House support more aid to state and local governments as part of that package?

MS. MCENANY: So the President has said that he would talk about state and local aid, but it cannot become a pretext for bailing out blue states that have gotten to themselves — gotten themselves into financial trouble. So while he’s open to discussing it, he has no immediate plans to move forward with the phase four. He said it’s something he’s looking at, but he wants to take some time to consider what should be in it.

The Pelosi bill has been entirely unacceptable. For instance, one of the things that I found really funny in her bill was she requires that the President appoint a medical supply response coordinator who would serve at the point — as a point of contact for the healthcare system, supply chain officials, and states, on medical supplies.

I don’t know if Speaker Pelosi has just not been paying attention while she’s been out in California and we’ve been here working, but I happened to be sitting by this so-called medical supply response coordinator on Air Force One yesterday; he’s been around for quite some time. His name is Admiral Polowczyk. So Polowczyk is who’s coordinating this, and perhaps she — she doesn’t know that, because Admiral P has been doing this for quite some time.

But that’s just an example of how quite odd the Pelosi bill is, packed full of liberal wish lists, like ensuring that illegal immigrants, for instance, get direct payments because they’re not looking at Social Security numbers to verify that taxpayer dollars are going to actual taxpayers. So elements like that are non-starters. And then there’s just really curious elements that really suggest if the Speaker is even paying attention.

Chanel.

Q Thank you, Kayleigh. So, going back to the HEROES Act, Speaker Pelosi presented it today for a vote, and you have members of her own party coming in and saying, “This is Washington politics at its worst.” Does the White House get a sense that members of the Democrat Party are starting to grow less confident in Pelosi’s leadership during this pandemic? Do you have any — have you been communicating with anybody on the Democrat side?

MS. MCENANY: So, I haven’t spoken to them directly, but I have seen some of the comments you’re talking about, and it certainly would suggest that. I mean, we’re in the middle of a pandemic, and what is Nancy Pelosi doing? She’s saying — she’s exploiting the crisis and pushing for mass mail-in voting, even though we know it’s more susceptible to voting fraud. I mean, we’re in the middle of a pandemic and this is what she’s interested in pushing, instead of talking about real measures like the payroll tax, which would be a tax break for low- and middle-income Americans.

She’s interested in removing the threshold for state and local tax deductions, which would essentially be a huge win for billionaires in California and New York. So it’s really interesting right now that you have the party that says they’re for working Americans saying, “Let’s remove the state and local tax thresholds,” so that millionaires and billionaires get big payouts in states like California and New York, and you have the Republican Party and the party of President Trump saying, “Let’s lower the payroll tax so that low-income Americans who pay more payroll taxes than they do income taxes get a tax break.” It’s really interesting the current posture of the two parties.

Q Kayleigh?

MS. MCENANY: Yes.

Q Going back to Obama, can I ask a question about Obama’s stockpile? Was there, at any point, any knowledge that when the transition between the Obama administration into the Trump administration, did anybody from the Trump — the Obama team brief the Obama administration — the Trump administration about the depletion of the National Stockpile? At one point, that PPE masks went down to below 2 percent what the national need was. Did anybody from the Obama administration warn the Trump administration going in?

MS. MCENANY: It’s a really good question. Not to my knowledge. To my knowledge, the two things President Obama warned about were North Korea and Michael Flynn.

What I do know is this: The Obama administration wasn’t throwing ventilators into the stockpile. They were unmasking Lieutenant General Michael Flynn in the waning days of their administration.

{snip. Here are Chris Johnson's questions.}

Q Thank you, Kayleigh. In a previous life as a Harvard law student in 2015, you were vocally against the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in favor of same-sex marriage, calling arguments for it a “farcical blabber.” Do you think that’s consistent with the President’s views?

MS. MCENANY: Look, you know, I’m not up here to give my personal views on anything. What I’d say is that I’m very proud of this administration, which has been fair and equitable and just to all Americans, and open to all Americans, as he should be. I think our views are entirely consistent, and I’m not up here to give my views on a Supreme Court case from many years ago.

Yes.

Q But how — (inaudible) when the President said that he’s fine with the decision and considers the matter settled?

MS. MCENANY: I stand behind the President. I stand behind his views. I’m here to represent the President and not to pontificate about Supreme Court cases from long ago.

Yes.

Q Well, a question on that, on an upcoming Supreme Court case. I want to get in real quickly, just to follow up. Any day now, there’s going to be another from the Supreme Court related to LGBTQ rights on whether LGB- — a federal civil rights law covers LGBTQ people. Is the administration doing any sort of contingency planning for that decision?

MS. MCENANY: Look, I — again, I’m not going to get ahead of the Supreme Court or give a Supreme Court case projection or outcome. It’s not my position to do that, so I have no information for you on that at this time.

{snip}

Thank you all. I think I got like two questions from each of you. So I enjoyed speaking with you all. Have a great weekend. And I like your pink blazer, Kaitlan.

END 3:14 P.M. EDT