White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany sparred with reporters during her press conference after they challenged her on President Donald Trump’s position on mask-wearing.
A reporter noted Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), testified masks are more likely to protect against the coronavirus than a vaccine.
She claimed the president questioned the use of masks during his presidential town hall on Tuesday night and asked McEnany why he continues to send “mixed messages” about them.
“The president has always supported mask-wearing, and he’s made many comments to that effect from this podium,” McEnany said.
She added, “Yesterday he was pointing to a quote that even Dr. Fauci has noted which is that, ‘Masks can have unintended consequences.'”
McEnany stressed, “While we support wearing them and it’s patriotic to do so,” the unintended consequences include inappropriate usage and touching the mask then touching something else.
Watch her comments below:
Another reporter challenged McEnany on Trump’s claim “there are people that don’t think masks are good.”
She argued it is “clearly” not what Redfield thinks and asked McEnany if any medical experts have told Trump that masks are not good or is he only referencing nonmedical experts “like he did last night.”
McEnany reiterated Trump was referring to the idea that “when used appropriately, they can have unintended consequences like what Dr. Fauci said.”
She added, “The president agrees with Dr. Fauci that mask-wearing is good. It’s recommended. The president continually recommended it from this podium, but he was just pointing out some of the unintended consequences as if not used properly.”
The exchange between the reporter and McEnany grew even more tense after she continued to hammer her on Trump’s comments.
McEnany fired back, “Unfortunately, a bunch of you are very keen on doing selective editing of the president’s quotes.”