Just after Trump loyalist Kayleigh McEnany was named the new White House press secretary on Tuesday, video resurfaced of the former Trump campaign spokewoman’s late February appearance on Fox Business Network and her assurance, “We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here.”
McEnany sought to credit Trump’s travel restrictions from China for containing the virus — words that proved to have a very short shelf life.
“This president will always put America first. He will always protect American citizens. We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here. We will not see terrorism come here,” McEnany enthused in a Feb. 25 conversation with then-host Trish Regan, before offering a partisan dig at Trump’s predecessor. “And isn’t that refreshing when contrasting it with the awful presidency of President Obama?”
Weeks later on March 27, Regan abruptly exited Fox Business after a firestorm over her on-air comments calling the coronavirus “another attempt to impeach the president.” Meanwhile, McEnany was named White House press secretary Tuesday morning.
American coronavirus deaths surpassed 10,000 on Monday. Current White House estimates put the possible total death toll between 100,000 and 200,000.
McEnany is a familiar face to anyone who watched cable news in the lead- and follow-up to the 2016 election, as she was a Trump surrogate hired by CNN as a contributor. She’s continued to make headlines in the years since.
Last August, after she was installed as spokesperson for Trump’s re-election campaign, CNN’s Chris Cuomo ended an interview with her abruptly when she continually asserted that Trump “doesn’t lie.”
During the toss from Cuomo to fellow CNN primetime anchor Don Lemon after the show, Lemon said this: “I don’t even bother anymore with that because you’ll never get a real, direct answer from someone like that. She has no credibility, Chris! She’s a nice woman. She used to be on this show as well as other CNN shows all the time, but someone like that has no credibility and the audience… Put whoever you want on your show, this isn’t chastising you, but the audience gets nothing from her because she does not tell the truth.”
Watch her Fox Business appearance below, via CNN.
On the same day Larry Kudlow said coronavirus was “contained” on Feb. 25th, Trump’s campaign spox made an even more bold claim.
“We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here..and isn't it refreshing when contrasting it with the awful presidency of President Obama." pic.twitter.com/O0DDH3Rvkw
— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) April 4, 2020