Secretary Kayleigh McEnany: Hello. Sorry to keep you all waiting. Before I begin, it is day 42 of the botched New York City primary, where still there is no election results in one congressional race. This, as the New York Times notes, is due to, quote, “the deluge of 400,000 mail-in ballots,” previewing the, quote, “challenges facing the nation as it looks towards conducting the November general election with mass mail-in voting.”

Now I’d like to highlight the Trump administration’s actions on telehealth, which the President detailed yesterday. The President signed an executive order to make regulatory reforms, allowing for greater access to telehealth and toward making it permanent.

Trump administration has cut red tape, allowing telehealth services for seniors and for other Americans. Thirty-five percent of Medicare beneficiaries took advantage of the President’s reform, seeking telehealth services over the phone rather than through video conference. A simpler and smarter way to go about things is now available to Medicare beneficiaries.

The President also took executive action to boost rural healthcare services. According to a 2019 study by Navigant, rural hospitals would be devastated by Medicare for All, otherwise known as a government takeover of healthcare. And under that analysis, they found that if Democrats had their way, 55 per cent of rural hospitals or 1,037 hospitals across 46 states would be at high risk of closure.

The President’s executive order calls for strategic investments in our rural communications infrastructure, which will expand telemedicine and rural broadband access. Democrats seek to deny Americans their healthcare freedom, but President Trump is working hard to save your healthcare by guaranteeing protections for people with preexisting conditions, eliminating the highly unpopular individual mandate of Obamacare, stopping surprise medical billing, increasing transparency, and lowering drug prices.

President Trump will continue to work hard to enact these healthcare principles by requiring price transparency; allowing states to purchase drugs from other countries, and improving Medicare to lower drug prices and reduce out of pocket costs for seniors; and by ending surprise medical billing, and making companies compete for your business by providing more options and more affordable plans.

Lastly, later today, Advisor to the President, Ivanka — Senior Advisor to the President, Ivanka Trump, will be joined by Attorney General Barr; Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Brooke Rollins; executives from organizations that combat human trafficking; and survivors from across the country for a roundtable to highlight newly awarded Department of Justice grants to provide safe, stable housing to survivors of human trafficking.

DOJ will award over $35 million in Housing Assistance Grants for victims of human trafficking to provide supportive housing and appropriate services to survivors of human trafficking.

And with that, I’ll take questions. Yes.

Q Thank you, Kayleigh. Two questions about the coronavirus. The president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, he said two days ago that he believed that the only way to have a real strong, robust economic recovery would be to shut the country down again for a month to six weeks.

I know that this idea of short-term pain for long-term gain has been shot down before by President Trump, but has it been given any more consideration, given the recent flare-ups across the country?

MS. MCENANY: No. And I would refer you to what Dr. Fauci said back in May. He said, “We can’t stay locked down for such a considerable period of time that you might do irreparable damage and have unintended consequences, including consequences for health.” And several of those consequences I’ve outlined for you before. For instance, the fact that, in any given year, you have 120,000 Americans who die from drug overdose or suicide. And we saw during the lockdown previously that we saw overdoses nationally jump by 18 percent in March and 29 percent in April, 42 percent in May.

Overdoses do go up, suicides do go up, cancer cases are missed, as Dr. Scott Atlas has pointed out that, “In the U.S. alone, there are 150,000 new cancer cases that arise every month among patients…most have not been seen.” And that was referring to the lockdown.

The American Cancer Society also noted that, during the pandemic, they’ve seen an 80 percent drop in cancer cases being identified.

So there are many health consequences. Those are three of what are a long list.

Q But — so no matter how bad it gets, you don’t think there’s any way that President Trump would look at a nationwide lockdown?

MS. MCENANY: I’m certainly not going to engage in hypotheticals, but, no, the President is not considering a national lockdown. What he is encouraging is mitigation efforts like wearing a mask, which is patriotic; like social distancing; and engaging in these really commonsense, safe measures to safely reopen and avoid the health consequences of a lockdown.

Q Okay. And one more thing about the negotiations going on today on Capitol Hill. Given the amount of money that is involved, the amount of Americans that would be impacted by this next stimulus bill, why isn’t President Trump, more — more personally involved or at least more — more visible in these negotiations?

MS. MCENANY: Well, he is through his Chief of Staff and through his Secretary of the Treasury. He’s regularly updated. I was just in the Oval Office with him, and the Chief of Staff was updating him on that very measure.

But, right now, the Democrats are being fundamentally unserious. They’ve offered no concessions, they’ve offered no plans. If anything, they’re moving the opposite way. And to demonstrate their unseriousness: Their $3 trillion plan, they’ve now said, “Oh, it needs to be $3.4 trillion.” When the President has had a very narrow, specific focus right now, it’s extending unemployment insurance, it’s making sure Americans don’t get evicted.

And when Democrats, as I noted on Friday, were offered the Martha McSally bill, which would have been extending unemployment insurance for at least seven days while these negotiations continue, that was rejected by Chuck Schumer, which should tell you exactly where Democrats stand: and it’s against hardworking Americans who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

Yes.

Q Thanks, Kayleigh. The President, about 10 minutes ago, tweeted about vote-by-mail, absentee voting. He says, “…In Florida, the election system is Safe and Secure, Tried and True.” What, in his view, changed? Was he advised by Republicans that he was potentially suppressing his own vote by stoking unfounded fears about mail-in voting? And will he admit now what is the fact that voting across the country by mail is
“safe and secure” and “tried and true”?

MS. MCENANY: Well, the President has always said that absentee voting for a reason is different than mass mail-out voting like what Nevada is seeking to do, which leads to mass fraud.

Q But in his tweet, he says it’s the same thing.

MS. MCENANY: And also, I’d refer you to the campaign on this, but there was a victory in Florida with regards to ballots. So I believe that’s what he was referencing. Would refer you to the campaign for details on that. But he’s been unmistakably clear that when you have this mass mail-out voting, like what Nevada wants to do, the consequences are real.

When the Las Vegas Journal-Review was reporting — did extensive and very good reporting on Nevada’s first all-mail primary election, they note that there were photos of ballots tossed in trash cans, littering apartment mailbox areas, dozens pinned on the complex’s bulletin boards in various apartment complexes, and you have a postal worker who said that when she went to go deliver some of these ballots, in several cases, people had moved or died. She kept 65 ballots on her first delivery, 100 on her second. It is rife with fraud and with delay, and that is what the President stands firmly against. He wants a free and fair election.

Q But extensive research shows that there is — that fraud in vote-by-mail systems is extraordinarily rare. The President votes by mail, you vote by mail, and a dozen other top Trump administration officials vote by mail.

MS. MCENANY: So, with regard to the absentee system, that’s right.

And there is ample evidence of fraud. I would point to you the best example of this and very recent was May 12th: New Jersey’s special election in Paterson, New Jersey, where one in five mail-in ballots were found to be fraudulent in the election. New Jersey officials were charged in that case. And resident Ramona Javier said this: “This is corruption. This is fraud.” There are eight relatives and immediate neighbors she knows of listed as having voted but who insist they never even received a ballot. There are ample examples of fraud. And we can get those to you — more than just Paterson, New Jersey.

Q Another question on different issue. What can the administration tell us about the deadly explosion in Beirut? What led to it, in your understanding?

MS. MCENANY: So that was breaking as I came out. We’re tracking it closely. And just rest assured that we’re taking a very good look at that.

Yes.

Q Kayleigh, thank you. The environmental bill the President signed this morning, it was passed overwhelmingly by both houses of Congress. Both Republicans and Democrats signed on to that legislation. Can you explain why there were no Democrats at the ceremony or even mentioned in the President’s remarks?

MS. MCENANY: The President is very proud of what happened today: the single largest investment in America’s national parks and public lands in history. The most significant conservation achievement since Teddy Roosevelt. It won the support of more than 850 conservation groups. And it provides $900 million a year in permanent funding to the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

And you’re asking about recognition of congressional Democrats right now, and the only thing that we’re recognizing about congressional Democrats right now is how appalling it is that there are Americans who are going without paychecks, because they refuse to partner with Martha McSally, Republicans, and the President in ensuring that those payments go out.

Yes.

Q Kayleigh, the President has said in recent — as recently in this Axios interview, that he believes that there — that many people believe that there’s disadvantages to testing. Can you walk us through what those disadvantages are, and if, as he stated back in June, he still believes that testing is overrated and makes the U.S. look bad?

MS. MCENANY: So I would note what the President refers to with regard to testing is that — you know, the media doesn’t often acknowledge that when you do do the most testing in the world, lead the world in testing, that you do identify more cases. So that is what he refers to with testing. And he’s made that point a few times.

But, look, we lead the world in testing. The President is very proud of this. The administration is very proud of this. We’ve done more than 60 million tests. On track, according to HHS, to do 100 million by September. That’s extraordinary.

And when you compare that to the next highest number — India, in the ballpark of about 16 million tests — what we’ve done in this country is impressive. And the President is very proud of that effort.

Q But does he still believe that testing in the U.S. is overrated?

MS. MCENANY: The President, again, points out that the media refuses to acknowledge that when you test so much, you do identify more cases. That’s the point he was making. And he’s very proud that — actually, since March 12th, we have increased daily testing by 32,000 percent. Worth mentioning this is a novel virus; there wasn’t a test. And this President led the way in getting emergency use authorizations to, one, identify working tests, and then to surge the testing capacity by 32,000 percent since March 12th. And that’s thanks to President Trump.

Yes.

Q Thanks, Kayleigh. On TikTok, the President has argued that the United States should receive money in return for a potential sale, but he hasn’t really explained how. Under what authority could the Treasury collect fees from China, from Microsoft, or from any other U.S. buyer to get this done, as the President demanded?

MS. MCENANY: Okay, so I’m not going to get ahead of the President on any official action, but he has made that point. And he and both Secretary Pompeo have said that the U.S. action — that the U.S. will take action in the coming days on Chinese apps, including TikTok — TikTok, excuse me, due to the national security risk. And we all agree that there needs to be a change, especially with TikTok collecting significant amounts of private data on users. It’s unacceptable, but I won’t get ahead of the President on what those actions look like.

Yes.

Q Thanks very much. I wanted to ask, also on TikTok, about — Beijing has said that it may hit U.S. firms as a response to sort of slammed — this sma- — you know, smash and grab of TikTok. What do you say to that, in regard to China?

And secondly, China has not complied with its commitments under the U.S.-China phase one trade deal. We’re reporting today that, you know, they’ve only completed 5 percent, for instance, of the energy purchases in this first half of the year. Can you just sort of say?

MS. MCENANY: Yeah, we encourage China to fulfill their obligations in the phase one China deal and to fulfill their end of the agreement.

But the President remains keenly focused on TikTok and protecting the private data of millions of people in this country. And PRC’s, the People’s Republic of China’s, laws require Chinese companies to cooperate with PRC’s security and intelligence services, enabling the CCP to access foreign-user data. And what this means is that these entities ultimately answer to the CCP, which actively undermines U.S. interests and is hostile to American values and the rights of individuals. And the President will stand firmly against China on this.

Yes, Jon.

Q Thank you, Kayleigh. I wanted to ask you about the COVID relief bill. The President has suggested, if there is no agreement that is reached, the President would act unilaterally. As you know, the power of the purse resides with Congress. So what would the President do unilaterally? Explain what he could do unilaterally, as it relates to providing relief to American families and American businesses.

MS. MCENANY: Yeah, again, I won’t get ahead of the President on determining what that action would look like or would be. I will leave that to him to determine.

But would I say is this — is, you know, right now, we have Secretary Mnuchin and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows once again asking Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to come to the table. The ball is in their court here. We’ve made at least four offers; they’ve made zero offers. It’s unacceptable for hardworking Americans.

Q And then, Kayleigh, on mail-in voting, which you talked about at the very top of the briefing, the President suggested yesterday that he has the right to write some sort of an executive order as it relates to mail-in balloting. Can you explain what would empower the President in the Constitution to take some sort of executive action as it relates to mail-in voting?

MS. MCENANY: Again, I won’t get ahead of the President on his actions and what those actions would be, and I’m not going to get engaged in a hypothetical as to what the actions would be and what authorities they would be based upon for yet-to-be announced actions.

But just to once again underscore the President’s concern, when you look at the delays in voting in Pennsylvania — a very good report by CBS, Zach Hudak. He got a quote from Luzerne County manager, David Pedri, who oversaw — or who identified some of these delays that they saw in Pennsylvania with mass mail-in voting. And he said this, quote: “I have this nightmare of CNN, Fox, CBS, and everyone else waiting for these things to come in on election night and we don’t have them.” It is very hard to speed up this process, and Luzerne’s experience was replicated across the state.

So, as we’ve seen in Pennsylvania, as we’ve seen in New York, as we see across the country, the President is very concerned about delays and outright fraud.

Q And then one final thing, Kayleigh, on TikTok, if I may: The President said yesterday in the briefing that was — that took place right here in the briefing room — the United States “should get a very large percentage of that price because we’re making it possible.” And that was referring to Microsoft’s proposed purchase of TikTok.

I’ve never heard of that before, and maybe you could explain that to me how the government could get a percentage of a price of a private transaction. Can you explain how the President would be able to do that?

MS. MCENANY: Again, I’m not going to get ahead of the President, again, on this action.

Yes, Francesca.

Q Thank you, Kayleigh. I want to ask you something about the executive orders, but I do want to follow up on Kristin’s question and just get a better understanding of what the President is doing personally to make sure that those extra unemployment benefits are reinstated. Is he calling senators on Capitol Hill? Does he have any plans to meet with Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer personally? And is the White House concerned that all parties will be blamed if there is no deal and voters will just stay home in November?

MS. MCENANY: No one has worked harder to ensure that those payments get to Americans than this administration. Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin have been on the Hill many, many days now, trying to get this deal worked out.

But it is Democrats, it is Nancy Pelosi, it is Chuck Schumer that are making an absolute mockery of this process. Rather than coming towards us and to a clean extension of unemployment insurance, they are moving beyond what their initial request was of $3 trillion, and then they move to $3.4 trillion. They wanted $100 billion for schools, and we offered $105 billion, to which they rejected. They are making a mockery of this process.

We’re still engaging with them, but this President has been clear: He’s ready to act on this, and it is of paramount importance to him.

Q Is he calling them?

MS. MCENANY: And again, why would you reject Martha McSally’s clean extension? Democrats are fundamentally unserious, and they’re making a mockery of the process.

Q Kayleigh, is he calling them?

MS. MCENANY: Yamiche.

Q Okay, then if you don’t want to — if you don’t want to move on that —

MS. MCENANY: Yamiche. Okay.

Q With the regards to the executive orders, the President has signed a flurry of those recently. He said yesterday that he expects to have a healthcare plan by the end of the month and also an immigration plan by next month. Does the White House feel a sense of pressure to get everything on the President’s to-do list done before November?

MS. MCENANY: No, but the President moves at a very rapid pace, and he wants to get as much of his agenda accomplished this term and going into next term. This President has done a lot already, but he will work on COVID and, alongside that, many other issues, as he routinely does.

This administration often is accomplishing items on two or three different topics in a day, as you can see today with the human trafficking, the event this morning — and then, also, I have an announcement: The President will have a COVID briefing at 5:30.

But I do want to just step back and say this, with regard to COVID: I think it’s really important to put the successes of this administration in context, and I got some new information from HHS just before I came out here. You know, this was a novel virus. There were no tests. There were no therapeutics. But what did this administration do? We, as I noted earlier, surged testing — increased it by 32,000 since March. HHS is projecting 100 million tests completed by September. Because of President Trump’s tearing down of red tape, there are — more than 230 clinical trials of potential COVID drugs and biological products are underway, and over 510 are in the planning stages. Today, NIH announced two separate COVID treatment trials, ACTIV-2 and ACTIV-3, and these are monoclonal antibody treatments.

And also, by September, we have secured more than half a million courses of treatment of remdesivir. That is one of the several therapeutics that this President has achieved in finding for the American people to treat this novel disease — this novel virus. And the vaccine, again, moving to phase three clinical trial at the fastest rate for any novel virus in history.

This could only be accomplished by President Trump — by a businessman in the White House who is not only on the race to get a vaccine — we have two in phase three clinical trial — but is securing 100 million doses in advance so that we’re ready to ship them out. This President has been hard at work on COVID, along with a number of other issues, and those EOs will be forthcoming.

Yes.

Q You called on me. Can I please go?

Q Thank you.

MS. MCENANY: (Calls on the next reporter.) Yes.

Q Israel — Israel reopened —

Q (Inaudible.)

MS. MCENANY: No, you can go ahead. I called on you.

Q Israel opened schools — Israel opened schools — Israel opened schools, and they got —

Q Please go.

Q — and they had issues with that. There were outbreaks; students got sick.

MS. MCENANY: I called on you.

Q What do you think of the fact that Israel opened schools and had to close?

MS. MCENANY: Yamiche, you — you — I had called on you, and you didn’t ask your question, so then I proceeded to call on Andrew.

Q (Inaudible) ask to speak over another reporter; I wasn’t going to do that.

MS. MCENANY: Go ahead, Andrew.

Q So do you not want to answer my question now that I was not being rude to another reporter?

MS. MCENANY: Go ahead, Andrew.

Q Okay. The President said in his interview with Axios that he was doing everything he can do to address the virus. Is that really true? I mean, is there nothing more that he can do at this point?

And also, is he willing — so does that suggest that he’s willing to accept the number of deaths that we’re seeing every day?

MS. MCENANY: No, we’re hard at work each and every day to defeat the invisible enemy. And, in fact, just to give you an update on some of the actions we’ve taken: Right now, there are currently 28,220 U.S. government personnel deployed for COVID-19 response. On top of that, next week — Dr. Birx has visited states across the country, and next week, she’ll be visiting Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.

We’re hard at work at, again, getting more EUAs for more treatments and therapeutics and testing. So we — every day, we’re rapidly looking at how we can make this the most robust response in the history of this country. And I think that we’ve done that, when you look at remdesivir and the therapeutics at play.

And the case fatality rate is really indicative of what this President has done. When we have the lowest case fatality rate — one of the lowest in the world, below the average of the world and below Europe — that shows that our therapeutics are working: remdesivir, convalescent plasma, and dexamethasone.

This President is hard at work, and he’ll continue to work hard on this.

Q But how can you say you’re doing everything that you can possibly do when there are still waits for getting test results back; when you have declined to impose a national mask mandate; when you’re saying that you won’t shut down the entire country again?

MS. MCENANY: So with regard to testing and the timing, when we identify a problem, we quickly identify a solution. And when there were delays in testing, we immediately identified pooled testing as a way to increase the speed of testing. We already lead the world in testing, so to increase the speed, we moved towards pooled testing, and that’s the flexibility with which this administration adapts to problems we identify on the ground, and we rapidly develop a solution to ameliorate the problem.

Yes.

Q Thank you, Kayleigh. Would the President like to see Mitch McConnell put the 600-dollar extension of the unemployment benefits through the end of the year on the Senate floor to put the Democrats in the spot of having to vote for that clean extension?

MS. MCENANY: So I haven’t talked to him about that proposal, and I don’t want to get into the middle of the negotiations. But what I — it’s safe to say is there’s been one proposal — one clean proposal to extend unemployment insurance. That was put forward by Martha McSally. The President was ready to sign it, and it was rejected by Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.

Q Can I follow up and just ask on a —

MS. MCENANY: Yes, you may.

Q — on a slightly separate topic whether or not the White House has a view on whether or not members of the media, a pool, should be allowed to cover the Republican National Convention’s official proceedings in Charlotte, which apparently, as of right now, because of the space limitations, the convention committee is saying that that’s not going to be possible.

MS. MCENANY: Yeah, I’m not read into the convention discussions, but I certainly will inquire about that and follow up with you and find out what the status is.

Yeah. (Inaudible.) Yes.

Q Thank you so much, Kayleigh. Do you have anything with regards to the massive explosion in Beirut that occurred earlier?

MS. MCENANY: Again, that was breaking as I came out here, and safe to say we are monitoring the situation.

Yes.

Q Thanks for calling on me. I wanted to give my question over to Yamiche.

MS. MCENANY: Sure. That’s fine.

Q Thank you so much. So my question is — I have two questions. The first question is: Israel opened its schools back up. They thought they had the virus under control. That virus then spread and it became an outbreak. Students got sick. They had to close schools down. How worried are you that what happened in Israel might happen here, given the fact that there are experts in Israel who say they made a mistake there?

MS. MCENANY: Well, I would refer to our experts. And CDC Director Robert Redfield answered about schools on the Hill last week, and he said this: “I don’t think I can emphasize it enough, as the Director of the Centers for Disease Control, the leading public health agency in the world: It is in the public health interest [that] these K-through-12 students…” get back to schools that are open for face-to-face learning. “I want these kids back in school…It is paramount to the health of the child.”

Q And the President just tweeted to — you answered a question about this — mail-in voting or absentee voting, whatever you call it — he is saying that, essentially, it’s the same thing. So why is it now something that can be done in Florida but not in other states? Why is that the appropriate thing to do?

MS. MCENANY: He’s not saying — he’s always made the distinction: Mass mail-out voting —

Q He’s not, in his tweet.

MS. MCENANY: — is with Nevada, where ballots are mailed en masse out to the voter rolls. So in a place like L.A., for instance, where 112 percent of L.A. County is registered, ballots go out, and at least 12 percent of those we know are not active voters.

So that is the distinction from absentee voting, which is where you proactively request an absentee ballot. There’s a difference there. And the President —

Q He’s not making the difference, though.

MS. MCENANY: — the President repeatedly makes the difference. And he is also noting — as I told Jeff, you can follow up with the campaign on this — but there was a victory in the courts in Florida, and that’s what he was referencing in the tweet.

Yes.

Q Thanks, Kayleigh. You mentioned extending the eviction moratorium and the unemployment insurance. On Saturday, Trump tweeted “Payroll Tax Cut plus Dollars!” Is a payroll tax cut still on the table?

MS. MCENANY: The President would love to see the payroll tax holiday because it would, in fact, benefit low- and middle-income Americans the most. But, right now, his keen and laser focus is unemployment insurance and evictions. Those are the preeminent priority, especially with that Friday deadline that Nancy Pelosi missed.

Chanel.

Q Thank you, Kayleigh. This administration has worked to — has identified human trafficking as a crisis and has worked to combat it. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation has identified TikTok an online — online platform that enables sexual exploitation of young people, especially in America. Would this administration ever consider — if TikTok became a U.S. asset, would this administration ever consider rules or imposing rules that would help mitigate this risk against young people on the platform TikTok?

MS. MCENANY: Yeah, I haven’t spoken to the President about that specific fact scenario, but absolutely it is a priority for this administration to combat human trafficking and the exploitation of children. So we would certainly take a close look at that. But I — I have not talked to him about that specific fact pattern.

I would like to end just by highlighting a troubling trend that I think we’ve seen play out across the country, and I believe we have a few graphics to illustrate this. It pertains to the “Defund the Police” movement.

And when you look at, across the country, the ties of defunding the police with increases in violence, it’s a cause for concern. As we saw in the beginning of this administration, violent crime was starting to come down, and then bring in the “Defund the Police” movement.

In Los Angeles, you had L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti proposing a cut of $150 million from the LAPD. L.A. Mayor Garcetti said this: “It starts someplace, and we have to say we are going to be who we want to be, or we’re going to continue being the killers that we are,” was his quote, in support of the defund movement. And as a result, we saw a 14 percent rise in homicides this year over last year.

In Minneapolis, the “Defund the Police” movement was afoot as well, with a unanimous vote in Minneapolis City and their council to dismantle the police. And you had Minneapolis City council member Jeremiah Ellison saying, “This is one action of many that we need to take on the road to a more equitable and just system that keeps people safe.” In fact, it did not keep people safe. We’ve seen a 94 percent increase in homicides compared to last year in Minneapolis.

And then, finally, in New York City, “Defund the Police” — you had the New York City Council voting to cut police budget by $1 billion. You had Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saying, “Defund the police means defunding the police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math.” So it wasn’t enough for AOC. But you did have New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio saying, “We think it’s the right thing to do.” It was absolutely not the right thing to do, as we’ve seen a 177 percent increase in shootings from July 2019 in New York.

When you defund the police, there are consequences. And that’s where the Democrats of today stand. And, unfortunately, we’ve seen a corresponding rise in violence in these Democrat cities, and it’s not acceptable.

Attribution: This article royalty-free license WhiteHouse.gov under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

MS. MCENANY:  Hello, everyone.  The first duty of government is to protect the safety of our citizens.  That’s what Attorney General Barr said when he was here at the White House just a few days ago.  For 55 days in Portland, Oregon, we’ve seen lawlessness, anarchy, and destruction that threatens peace in our streets and the safety of our fellow American citizens and the safety of our brave law enforcement officers..embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

Yet some Democrats and some in the media continue to ignore reality.  As Portland’s — Portland’s Democrat Mayor Ted Wheeler tweeted, quote, “What I saw last night was powerful in many ways.  I listened, heard, and stood with [the] protesters. And I saw what it means when the federal government unleashes paramilitary forces against its own people.”  That was a quote from the Democrat mayor who quite literally stood in the middle of a riot as violent protestors attacked a federal building.  That is appalling, and Mayor Wheeler is clearly failing at his duty to protect his streets and his city there in Portland.

The federal government has a sworn duty to uphold the laws of the United States through field offices and federal facilities across the country.  These agents protect and serve the American people.  Yet the rhetoric of the left undermines our justice system, with Nancy Pelosi calling them “stormtroopers,” Jim Clyburn calling them the “Gestapo,” and Wheeler using the term “paramilitary forces.”

Under President Trump, violent crime rates in America finally began to fall.  Rhetoric like this cannot be allowed to set us back.  Augmenting the Federal Protective Service, guarding federal property in Portland, our brave officers have — since — since augmenting them, I should say, our brave officers have faced all of these various things — like rioters barricading officers inside the Hatfield federal courthouse, trapping officers inside.  A, quote, “commercial-grade mortar firework” was launched by rioters.  A federal agents hand was impaled by planted nails.  Another federal agent was shot with a pellet gun, leaving a wound deep to the bone.  And tragically, three federal officers were likely left permanently blinded by the rioters using lasers pointed directly at their eyes.

These are not the actions of so-called peaceful protesters, and the Trump administration will not stand by and allow anarchy in our streets.  Law and order will prevail.

And I have a short video for you because I want it to be real what is happening right now in Portland.  So if we could play that video, that’d be great.

As you can see, that is anything but a peaceful protest.  And this President will always stand on the side of law and order.

And with that, I’ll take questions.  Yes.

Q    Kayleigh, thank you so much.  I want to ask you about the convention, and then I have another question on foreign policy.

First of all, has President Trump determined where he’s going to or how he’s going to deliver his speech?  He said he was working on that yesterday.

MS. MCENANY:  So he hasn’t decided that just yet, but we have a number of really creative, exciting options that he’s looking at.  It’s a question more for the RNC.  But he’s very excited about the prospect of what will come with the convention.

Q    And I want to ask you about something that he tweeted back in April.  He said, “Joe Biden wanted the date for the Democrat National Convention moved to a later time period.  Now he wants a ‘Virtual’ Convention, one where he doesn’t have to show up. Gee, I wonder why?”  Does the President regret that now?

MS. MCENANY:  Well, as you know, I can’t respond to Joe Biden.  You’d have to ask the campaign about that.  But the President — the circumstances changed in Florida, where we intended to have the convention.  As the circumstances on the ground changed, the President changed his viewpoint on having the convention in Jacksonville at that particular location.

Q    I wanted to ask you about the President’s phone call with Vladimir Putin.  Did the President raise the issue of Russian bounties on the lives of American troops during that phone call?

MS. MCENANY:  So, as you know, that intelligence is unverified still to this day.  There are dissenting opinions within the intel community.  I won’t get into the President’s private discussions with a foreign leader.  I was not on that call, but that intelligence is still unverified.

But rest assured our President will always stand with our military and protect them against any and every foreign adversary.

Yes.

Q    Has he made a determination, Kayleigh, about what happened?  He’s been briefed now, right?

MS. MCENANY:   (Pointing to a journalist.)  Yes.

Q    Yes, thank you, Kayleigh.

Q    Kayleigh, thank you —

Q    Yes, Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell announced that John Lewis –-

MS. MCENANY:  I’ll come back to you next.  Yes.

Q    — will be lying in state at the Capitol on Monday and Tuesday.  Does the President plan to go to the Capitol to visit John Lewis on one of those days?

MS. MCENANY:   I have no announcements about the President’s upcoming plans.  But John Lewis was a civil rights icon; we lowered the flag at the White House here to signify that.  So I have no future announcements of the President’s plans, other than to make that one note.

Yes.

Q    Thank you, Kayleigh.  So the Senate has approved overwhelmingly a bill that would require the renaming of bases that are named after Confederate leaders.  How — and how is it that Senator Inhofe assured the President he was going to be able to remove that from legislation that has passed both chambers of Congress?

MS. MCENANY:  Yeah, I’ll leave that to Senator Inhofe, as to how that works, legislatively speaking.  But the President was assured by Senator Inhofe that that would be changing, and that Republicans stood with the President on this and stood with the rest of America.  Fifty-six percent, according to an ABC/Ipsos poll, are opposed to the changing of the U.S. base names.

Kevin.

Q    Kayleigh, thanks.  Two quick questions.  I think you probably hear this often: When can Americans expect some money in their pockets by way of stimulus?  What’s the President’s plan to get that money to them as quickly as possible?

And just a question about COVID reporting: Is the White House at all concerned about inaccuracies or inconsistencies with respect to COVID death reporting?

MS. MCENANY:  So, first, let me note: When it looks — when we look at numbers, we want the most accurate reporting.  And I went through, last week, the CDC numbers.  We want to make sure hospitals are truly reporting all of the information they’re getting.  One of the systems of data gathering, only 81 percent of hospitals were reporting into.  Another HHS system was getting a more full picture of what we’re seeing in hospitals. So we want to ensure all of our information is accurate, and we trust the numbers that we’re getting from HHS and CDC.

And with regard to phase four, those negotiations are ongoing.  These are long and extended negotiations.  We feel that it’s very important, from the White House, to address unemployment insurance, in particular, and also money for schools and ensuring that the money for schools enables students to make school choices, like actually going to a physically open school. So, right now, that’s where the discussions lie at the moment.

Q    One other quick one very quickly: Drug pricing is so critical to America’s seniors.  Often, you hear terrible stories, frankly, about people having to ration drugs because of the incredible cost.  What exactly, practically, can the American public expect the President to do to lower the cost of prescription drugs?

MS. MCENANY:   That’s a great question.  The President — today, at 3:00 p.m. — will be talking about drug pricing, and he’ll be announcing some actions he’s taking on that front, so I’ll leave it to him to announce those future actions.

But, you know, in 2018, he released a landmark blueprint to lower prescription drug prices.  It’s an issue he has been very passionate about, which is why he signed legislation ending the gag clauses that stop pharmacists from informing patients about lower drug prices.  And aver- — average basic premiums for Medicare Part D prescription drug plans have actually fallen by 13.5 percent since 2017.

So he’s done a lot already, but more to come this afternoon, actually.

Kaitlan.

Q    I have two questions for you.  This morning, Dr. Birx said that it is still an open question how rapidly children under 10 can actually spread COVID-19.  But the other day, the President said “they don’t bring it home [very] easily” and “they don’t transmit very easily.”  So shouldn’t we figure out which one of those it is before kids go back to school?

MS. MCENANY:  So let me give you two answers to this.  You know, first, I would point you to CDC guidelines that said, based on current data, the rate of infection among younger schoolchildren and from students to teachers has been low, especially if proper precautions are followed.  There have also been few reports of children being the primary source of COVID-19 transmission among family members.  That’s where the data currently stands.

But that being said — even if there is transmission and later studies come out, let’s say — we believe that students should be going back to school because the effect on a child — we know, scientifically, they are not affected in the same way as an adult.

Again, I’d point you to CDC guidelines on this that says the best available evidence indicates if children become infected, they are far less likely to suffer severe symptoms. Death rates among school-aged children are much lower than among adults, and far lower than during the H1N1 pandemic, for instance, when schools remained open.

Q    Yeah.  And Dr. Birx noted that today — unless kids have an underlying condition.  But she said they do not know how rapidly they can spread it still for if they’re under 10.  And that’s one of the President’s top advisors.

MS. MCENANY:  So on the transmission point, I’d point you again to the CDC.  But I would also say that it is our firm belief that the — that our schools are essential places of business, if you will; that our teachers are essential personnel.  You all here are considered essential workers, which is why you are coming into the briefing room every day during the pandemic.  Our meatpackers were meatpacking because they were essential workers.  Our doctors were out there treating because they’re essential workers.  And we believe our teachers are essential.

Particularly, I pour over the data on — on schools often.  And the one thing that really stuck out to me — I read through the entirety of the CDC guidelines — was that — I talk about child abuse often and one in five cases being reported in schools.  Well, the CDC guidelines went on to say, there has not just been “a sharp decline in reports of suspected maltreatment, but tragically a notable increase in evidence of child abuse when children are seen for services” during the pandemic.

For example, in Washington, D.C., Child and Family Service Services Agency recorded a 62 percent decrease in child abuse reporting calls between mid-March and April, compared to the same time period in 2019, but saw more severe presentation of child abuse cases in emergency rooms.  That’s a tragedy and our schools must reopen.

Yes.

Q    Okay.  My question was about transmission rates.

But anyway, my second question is also on the President’s call —

MS. MCENANY:   And I answered that.

Q    — with the Russian President yesterday.  Today, the nation’s top counterintelligence official said that Russia is one of three countries that is actively working to interfere in our election.  Did the President bring up election interference on the call with the Russian President yesterday?

MS. MCENANY:  Again, I wasn’t on the call.  But the President —

Q    But you get read up on those calls.

MS. MCENANY:  I was not on the call.  The Pres- —

Q    But you get read up on the calls.

MS. MCENANY:  The President has taken more actions for election security than his predecessor, who gave a stand down order when he learned about election interference.  Susan Rice gave that stand down order.  Obama’s intel chief even confirmed that stand down order was given.

By contrast, we’ve given innumer- — a ton of funding to election security.  We take our elections seriously —

Q    My question is did President Trump bring it —

MS. MCENANY:  — and we believe in election integrity.

Justin.

Q    My question is did President Trump —

MS. MCENANY:  Justin.

Q    — bring it up on the call yesterday?

MS. MCENANY:  Justin.

Q    You’re not answering.

MS. MCENANY:  I was not on the call, Kaitlan.  Stop filibustering.

Q    So yes or no?

MS. MCENANY:  Justin.

Let your colleagues ask questions

Q    That’s not filibustering.  You’re not answering my question.

MS. MCENANY:  Justin.

Q    Did he bring it up?

MS. MCENANY:  Okay, Justin no longer has a question.

Anyone else?

Q    Kayleigh —

MS. MCENANY:  Okay.

Q    Kayleigh, around 20 million Americans —

Q    It’s not answering.

Q    — are receiving the expanded uninsurance benefits, and some are going to receive the last of those checks tomorrow. Have Senate Republicans in the White House settled on a plan yet to extend UI?  If so, can you explain what that plan is?  And if not, did you wait too long to try to sort this out?

MS. MCENANY:  Those discussions are still ongoing, and I’m not going to get in the middle of the negotiation, other than to say: When I answered Kevin’s question up here, I said that our priority right now is we feel it’s very important to address extending on those unemployment insurances.  And how that looks, I’ll leave it to them.  But that is — unemployment insurance is a top priority for us right now.

Q    And then China ordered the closing of one of our diplomatic facilities there in retaliation for what happened in Texas.  We haven’t really heard from the White House, so if you could spell out specifically why you guys decided to close the Houston facility.  I know that there’s obviously broad complaints that you’ve raised for weeks with China, but why Houston specifically?

And secondly, if you had a reaction to the steps China took.

MS. MCENANY:  Yes, our action to direct the closure of the PRC Consulate General in Houston was taken to protect American — and to protect American intellectual property and Americans’ private information.

For years, the CCP has undertaken a whole-of-society effort to steal American technology and intellectual property for commercial gain, and many of those activities are directed from PRC diplomatic facilities.  And we urge the CCP to cease these malign actions rather than engage in tit-for-tat retaliation.

That’s where we stand on that.

Jeff.

Q    Kayleigh, the President’s tone on the virus this week seems to have changed.  He’s advocated a few different times for Americans to wear masks.  He said that the virus would — or the pandemic would get worse before it gets better.  He cancelled most of the convention — or certainly the Florida part — yesterday.

All of these things were bad two months ago — even longer than that — and the science on masking has been clear for several months.  What changed this week?  Why did his tone change?

MS. MCENANY:  There has been no change.  The President said, on March 31st, before there was even a recommended but not required guidance given by the CDC on mask wearing — the President already said, if you want to wear a mask, wear a mask. It doesn’t harm anyone.  And that was before — that was when our scientists even were — some of them were saying don’t wear masks.

So the President has been consistent on this.  He wore a mask back at the Ford facility.  He carries it around in his pocket.  He showed it to you multiple times.  He hasn’t changed.  In fact — and just speaking on COVID, generally — the way I’ve heard him talk privately in the Oval Office is the way he’s talking out here.

The only thing that’s changed is the President taking dozens and dozens and dozens of your questions each and every day because he felt the best way to get information to the American people was for him to be out here, answering your questions and providing this directly.

Q    The other part of the question though wasn’t just about masking — although, I would argue that if you look back and see when he called it “politically correct,” for example, that wasn’t exactly agreeing with the science of wearing masks.

But setting that aside, he —

MS. MCENANY:  No, but let’s not set that aside.  Because in that incident, when he used the words “politically correct,” it was in reference — I believe you were asking him a question — was it?

Q    I was.

MS. MCENANY:   And — right.  And you were standing outside, and you’d been tested, and you were wearing a mask, and he couldn’t hear your questions, so he asked for you momentarily to pull down the mask.  So that was the specific context, and context does matter here.

Q    Okay, well, I didn’t mean to engage on that, but I was standing around other reporters and using the same mic that other people were using.  That’s why I left my mask on.

MS. MCENANY:  Right.  Well, he could not hear your question, and he asked for you temporarily to pull it down.  Everyone in the press pool is tested, so, scientifically, you were not in a compromising position.  But he — he hasn’t changed his tone.

But this President — the reason he wants to bring back these briefings is get information out there like: We’ve done 52.9 million tests nationwide, 187 emergency use authorations [sic] — use auth- — use authorizations, excuse me, for test manufacturing, 20 million swabs per month, used the DPA over 20 times — all of these great successes of this administration, like distributing 31,000 cases of remdesivir, enough to treat nearly 200,000 patients.  None of this is getting covered.

And you’ve got the best messenger, the duly elected President of the United States, talking directly to the American people and getting extraordinary ratings as they tune in to get information from their leader.

Q    But my question wasn’t —

MS. MCENANY:  Yes, Jon.

Q    My question wasn’t about —

MS. MCENANY:  Jon.

Q    — that last piece.  I just want to clarify —

Q    Thank you, Kayleigh.

Q    — one thing, Kayleigh.

MS. MCENANY:  Okay, Jon no longer has a question.  Anyone else?

Q    No, I do, Kayleigh.  I do, Kayleigh.

Q    I just want to — I just want to clarify —

MS. MCENANY:  Jon.

Q    I don’t want to talk over, if — let me — if you don’t mind, Jeff, maybe we can come back to you?

Q    I would like to finish my question.

Q    Yes, well, let me — let me ask my question —

MS. MCENANY:  Yeah, but the — when everyone in the front rows get five questions, people in the back row don’t even get the opportunity to ask questions.

Q    It’s just that you’re not answering the questions, Kayleigh.

Q    Thanks, Kayleigh.  I want to ask about the Senate Defense Authorization bill, which passed by a veto-proof majority yesterday; and the House earlier this week also passed their version of the Defense bill also by a veto-proof majority.  And both of those bills contain mandates that the Pentagon rename these military bases, which are named in honor of Confederate generals.

I want to ask you: Does the President believe that his position — which we’re all familiar with — it’s helpful in terms of recruitment, specifically for African Americans?  Explain how that position will help recruit African Americans in an all-volunteer military force?

MS. MCENANY:  The President stands with the American people; 56 percent don’t want to see the bases’ names changed.  Where he stands is in a place where — many soldiers who have lost their lives overseas, the last ground that they saw were these bases.  And by changing their names, he believes that — that it is not appropriate that those soldiers who lost their lives, to be told that the ground that they left —

Q    I’m — I’m familiar with his position; I think you just restated it very well.  But I’m asking you, specifically: How is this helpful for an African American which — who wants to volunteer for our all-volunteer military forces to go to a base that’s named for a Confederate general that worked to still put and keep it in place slavery, which impacted their ancestors?

MS. MCENANY:  Because the bases are not known for the generals they’re named after.  The bases are known for the heroes within it: the great Americans — black, white, Hispanic — of every race who have died on behalf of this great country.  And 56 percent of the nation agrees with the President.

Q    So it’s your position that —

MS. MCENANY:  (Pointing to a journalist.)  Yes.

Q    — that it won’t impact — it won’t impact then —

MS. MCENANY:  (Pointing to a journalist.)  Yes.

Q    — in any way recruitment, is what your position is?

MS. MCENANY:  Next question.

Q    Is that a yes or a no?

MS. MCENANY:  I already answered that one twice.

Q    It’s just a yes or a no.

Q    Kayleigh — Kayleigh, I want to circle back to school choice, which you mentioned a few minutes ago.  So, that means shifting — the potential for shifting federal funds away from schools that don’t open so that parents can use it — use those funds for homeschooling or for private schooling.

The President vehemently opposes defunding police.  Why — why is defunding public schools okay?

MS. MCENANY:  So the President has never wanted to take money away from schools, take money away from education.  It is about keeping it with the child.  The purpose of school funding is to educate a child.  The child, if a school is closed, loses the opportunity to receive education and needed social services.

I put up the chart a few weeks ago from McKinsey & Co. that showed that the student most impacted is the low-income student who is in a low-income community and doesn’t have the resources of — as some other students.  So that student should not be deprived of an educational opportunity and forever never be able to recover.  The deficit that that child has had by being out of school for an entire year or more —

Q    The schools in those — in those underserved communities also are the ones that, generally, have terrible ventilation; they need the most money for upgrading.  If this money is shifted away from the schools, how will they ever get into a situation where they could, in the case of a pandemic, properly serve their populations?

MS. MCENANY:  Well, your question is a bit befuddling because if the problem is ventilation in schools, and the schools close and you’re fixing the ventilation, the student isn’t even in the facility because the school isn’t even open.

The whole point is the student deserves an educational opportunity and a good educational opportunity, which is why the money must follow the student.

And I would also note, in the CDC guidelines, that they said — with regards to food, in particular — that there are 15 million children participating in the School Breakfast Program, 30 million in the School Lunch Program.  And they said, quote, “It is difficult to maintain this type of school nutrition program over the long term.”  And they were talking about how we’ve managed to get meal servants — meal services throughout the periods of school closures, but they went on to say it’s difficult to maintain this type of program over the long term.

There are severe consequences.  I’ve mentioned the child abuse, the loss in education, and also when it comes to nutrition services, as well.

Yes.

Q    Kayleigh, the pa- — the payroll tax cut now at the table, is there anything that the White House considers a red line in negotiations with Democrats?  And then, also, I have another question.

MS. MCENANY:  Yeah, there are — I’m not going to get into red lines.  These negotiations are ongoing, and I’m not in the middle of them, so I’ll wait to find out what the conclusions of those negotiations are.  But I would just signal what I said at the top of this briefing about unemployment insurance being very important.

Q    And then, President Trump called off the convention in Florida, citing safety.  Does that give him pause for any of his future upcoming travel, like to Texas next week, which is a hotspot?

MS. MCENANY:  We take all necessary precautions, and we protect the President, his staff, and we make sure that we’re following the guidelines in social distancing.  And so we don’t have concern about future travel.

Yes.

Q    The accusations that China is stealing intellectual property are not new.  But why (inaudible) order to shut down the consulate in Houston now, roughly 100 days before the election?

MS. MCENANY:  Yeah, I’m not going — I’m not going to give any further information about our intelligence from the briefing podium, other than to note some — what I told Justin earlier on that particular matter.

Yes.

Q    Thank you, Kayleigh.  On the question of reopening schools: Yesterday, just minutes after the President announced that he was going to cancel the Republican convention events in Jacksonville, he also made the case again for reopening schools.  So why is it not safe to hold the Republican convention, but it is safe to reopen schools?

MS. MCENANY:  Yeah, the — schools are a different situation, when you have children who, as the CDC guidelines clearly note, are not affected in the same way as adults.  We can make certain arrangements like social distancing in schools and follow the CDC guidelines that have been laid out and try to — they’re the best (inaudible) guidelines I referenced.  We can get our schools up to the — the best place we can get them in, especially if we’re given additional school funding — the $105 billion that was mentioned that we would — are keen to see in a phase four.

So it’s a different scenario when you have packed adults in the room versus these students that we can make precautions and take measures to protect.

Yes.

Q    Thank you Kayleigh.  I have a question about COVID, but first I want to ask about the use of federal officers.  Does the President believe he has the power to send DHS agents and officers anywhere in the country that he wants to?

MS. MCENANY:  The President believes that his authority is in — with regard to DHS, which is distinct from DOJ — there’s Operation LeGend, which is primarily led by DOJ, and that’s just providing extra FBI and ATF and DEA agents to already-existing places.  It’s just surging extra personnel in places that are out of control — like Chicago, for instance.  Separate and distinct from Portland, which is DHS, and his power pertains to 40 U.S. Code 1315.  And I — I read that statute for you in the last briefing, so I won’t bore you with reading it again, but that’s with protecting federal property.

So those are the two lanes that we’ve acted on and look at.

Q    But for those DHS — those officers and agents, does he believe he has the power to send them anywhere he wants (inaudible)?

MS. MCENANY:  He believes they’re there to protect federal property, so I’ll leave it to you to determine where is federal property.

Q    And just — just to follow up on that, I mean, has the President reminded those federal agents and officers that their constitutional obligation to not violate search and seizure rights and not take people into custody without probable cause?

MS. MCENANY:  Well, Chad Wolf is leading this operation over at DHS, and he has made clear that his officers are acting within the bounds of the law.  Of course, we encourage everyone to act within the bounds of the law and the Constitution.

Yes.

Q    The President said he loves the Constitution —

Q    Thank you.  Thank you, Kayleigh.

Q    We haven’t heard him speak about that particular part of the Constitution in this context.

MS. MCENANY:  (Pointing to a journalist.)  Yes.

Q    Yes.  Pres- — President Trump has repeatedly said that he wouldn’t watch sports or support sports if players continue to kneel.  So why has he agreed to throw out the first pitch at the Yankees game next month if the — considering that baseball players knelt at last night’s games?

MS. MCENANY:  Yeah, I’ll leave it to him as to address the Yankees game.  And he’s very excited to throw out the first pitch.  And I was not a part of the discussions as to how that’s going to work, in terms of the first pitch.  I’ve learned about it when you guys did, and he’s very excited to throw it out.

Yes.

MS. MCENANY:  Thank you, Kayleigh.  Two questions: We understand that the governor of Florida is on campus today.  Can you confirm that he will talk about that visit?  Will he be meeting with the President?

MS. MCENANY:  Yes, Governor DeSantis is here.  He’s here to be a part of the drug pricing event, but he will be talking and meeting with the President further to discuss COVID and other matters.

Q    I have a question about building —

Q    But, Kayleigh, will they be discussing the convention?  I — I had two questions, if you mi- — if I may ask a second one.

MS. MCENANY:  Sure.  This is why I like to save time for you guys in the back.

Q    I appreciate it.

MS. MCENANY:  I don’t often get to.  Yeah.

Q    Yes.  Do you have any guidance on when the President will be signing that immigration order that he’s been talking about?

MS. MCENANY:  Yeah.

Q    — on DACA?

MS. MCENANY:  Yeah, so no guidance, other than to say I’ve — I laid out that he would have a merit-based EO.  And he really would like a legislative fix for DACA, and would like Democrats to come to the table.  But no guidance on timing just yet.

Chanel.

Q    Thank you, Kayleigh.  On federal law enforcement efforts, mainly Operation LeGend, we’re talking about funding for a lot of these programs.  Anytime we’re talking about federal anything, we should be talking about the money behind it.

So with Operation LeGend, it appears to be filling a law and order void in majority-Democrat cities.  So given this fact, in terms of the funding, would the citizen of, say, Springfield, Missouri, be called to pay for the security and the federal protections of the incompetence of Chicago, Illinois?  Is that something that has been discussed, as far as funding for Operation LeGend?

MS. MCENANY:  I’m not aware of that being discussed, in particular.  I think where the President’s head is at right now is — you know, you look across the country, and it is Democrat streets where you’re seeing a lot of this lawlessness.

In Minneapolis, murders have spiked 94 percent; Philadelphia, murders have spiked 27 percent.  Over a year ago, New York City, 277 percent increase in shootings.  Over a year ago, Chicago — the most egregious — 414 people killed, 50 percent increase over a year ago.

We saw with — under President Obama, violent crime started to tick up.  Started to come down under this President.  He restored law and order.  And then this Defund the Police movement has been an absolute travesty, and it’s why you have 67 percent of black Americans who worry that the criticism of police will cause police to pull back.

So this President is looking at this in a saving-lives lens.  “I want to save lives.  I’ll put federal money in,” as he did.  Fin- — financial assistance was announced with AG Barr, and also additional manpower.  He’s very keen on — on seeing the violence in our streets end.  He wants to protect the people of this country when derelict Democrat mayors and governors do not.  And he’s also appla- — appalled by cancel culture, and cancel culture specifically as it pertains to cops.

We saw, a few weeks ago, that “PAW Patrol,” a cartoon show about cops, was canceled.  The show “Cops” was cancelled.  “Live PD” was cancelled.  Lego halted the sales of their “Lego City Police Station.”  It’s really unfortunate because I stand with — and the President stands with — the 63 percent of Americans who think police officers are one of the most important jobs in this country.  That’s 63 percent.

And with that I — Karoline Leavitt, one of our great assistant press secretaries, today went to great pains to make contact with the Southold Police Department in Suffolk County.  We saw a very touching video that we loved, and she got the approval of the police department and the parent to show this video.  Because I think this is emblematic of where America stands with regard to our police.

So if you wouldn’t mind playing that video, that’d be great.

(A video clip is played.)

MS. MCENANY:  Thank you to our heroic police department around the country.  America stands with you.

Source: White House. whiteHouse.gov