White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany is expressing her frustration with the media after being pressed on President Donald Trump’s record of condemning white supremacy.
A reporter sparred with McEnany during her press briefing on Thursday after asking her whether Trump agrees racially motivated violent extremism is one of the deadliest threats the United States faces.
After repeatedly asking McEnany what the White House is doing to combat this threat, she fired back, “We’re not having a debate on a cable news network right now. You need to let me finish.”
McEnany added, “It’s quite funny that the media goes haywire about interrupting in debates and then chooses to pursue that very same tactic themselves. This is a White House briefing. You ask a question, and you give me time to answer.”
Watch the exchange below:
MOMENTS AGO: Kayleigh McEnany spars with reporter: "We're not having a debate on a cable news network right now. You need to let me finish… It's quite funny that the media goes haywire about interrupting in debates and then chooses to pursue that very same tactic themselves." pic.twitter.com/z7kDuS2TuU
— The Hill (@thehill) October 1, 2020
McEnany claimed the president has done “quite a bit” to combat the threat of white supremacy.
She argued Trump both wants to prosecute the Ku Klux Klan as domestic terrorists and said lynching should be a national hate crime.
The reporter challenged McEnany on her claims and explained Trump’s record on denouncing white supremacy has been “mixed.”
“His record is not mixed in the slightest and when you go back in history you can see that… Jesse Jackson has praised the president as someone who served underserved communities,” McEnany responded.
She continued, “This president with Mar-a-Lago, it was the first Palm Beach club open to African Americans and Jews.”
McEnany also slammed John Roberts from Fox News for also hammering her on whether Trump decries white supremacists.
“I would refer you to your wife’s reporting from 21 hours ago… accurate reporting I cited in the White House Press Briefing,” McEnany said.
.@johnrobertsFox I would refer you to your wife’s reporting from 21 hours ago… accurate reporting I cited in the White House Press Briefing. https://t.co/dV3Hzp1UaI
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) October 1, 2020
He later defended himself and urged viewers to stop “blaming” the media.
Fox News’ @johnrobertsFox on his repeated questions to @PressSec asking to condemn white supremacy:
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 1, 2020
"For all of you on Twitter who are hammering me for asking the question, I don’t care… Stop deflecting. Stop blaming the media. I’m tired of it."pic.twitter.com/dEG6jYXSeD
McEnany’s comments come just days after the first presidential debate where Trump failed to explicitly condemn white supremacists or militia groups, as IJR previously reported.
He later tried to clarify his comments when pressed by reporters on his remarks regarding the far-right group called the Proud Boys.
“I don’t know who the Proud Boys are. I mean you’ll have to give me a definition because I really don’t know who they are,” Trump said.