TRANSSCRIPT Kayleigh McEnany: (00:00) This past Father’s Day weekend, we saw violence across the country but we saw scant media coverage of this violence. Let’s be clear here. The states are responsible for policing their streets, the governors, the mayors are responsible for ensuring that our streets are safe, that the American people are protected and what we have seen is in far too many Democrat-run states and Democrat-run cities, we have seen violence and chaos and nothing like the law and order that we saw here in D.C. when President Trump stepped in and [inaudible 00:00:33] the National Guard. In Chicago for instance we saw over 100 people were shot and 14 tragically killed including a three-year-old was among the victims, and local news outlet tragically reported that multiple teenagers were killed in Chicago in this weekend as well. In Minneapolis, 11 people were shot and one person killed. One individual was a father of two who worked as a barber and our hearts break for this family. Also in Democrat-run New York City, we saw that the New York Post reported that there was one shooting per hour this Saturday. Absolutely inexcusable, with 24 people shot on Saturday alone.

Kayleigh McEnany: (01:14) Then in Democrat-run Seattle, we’ve seen the autonomous zone otherwise known as CHOP, C-H-O-P, one person was shot and killed in this autonomous zone run by radical anarchists and also we saw another shooting there yesterday as well and Democrat mayor of the city called Chop “the summer of love” but it has been nothing of the sort clearly with two individuals shot, one person shot and killed. It is the responsibility of governors to protect their states, to police their streets. The police power rests at the state level, and we expect mayors to step up and to do their job and governors to step up and do their job in the mold of President Trump who secured D.C. after a night of lawlessness two weeks ago.

Kayleigh McEnany: (02:01) Finally the defund police movement is misguided. It will only hurt the vulnerable citizens of American cities the most. It’s sad ant is is shameful, and with that, I’ll take questions. Yes.

Speaker 2: (02:13) Kayleigh, thank you. Has the president actually directed officials to slow down the rate of coronavirus testing?

Kayleigh McEnany: (02:18) No, he has not directed that and in fact I would note that first we continue to test about 500,000 per day, about half a million people per day. $1.8 billion is invested in NIH to find new testing capabilities. Any suggestion that testing has been curtailed is not rooted in fact and yeah, I would just note the extraordinary efforts of this administration more than at this point 26.7 million tests and we should be north of that.

Speaker 2: (02:45) When he said Saturday that he told his people to slow it down, what did he mean by that?

Kayleigh McEnany: (02:50) The president was trying to expose what the media oftentimes does is they ignore the fact that the United States has more cases because we have more testing. We are leading the world in testing and he was pointing that out so that it’s a fact that the media readily ignores.

Speaker 2: (03:07) What he’s saying that he told his people to slow down testing is not true?

Kayleigh McEnany: (03:08) It was a comment that he made in jest. It’s a comment that he made in passing, specifically with regard to the media coverage and pointing out the fact that the media never acknowledges that we have more cases because when you test more people, you find more cases.

Speaker 2: (03:22) Is it appropriate to joke about coronavirus when 120,000 people have died?

Kayleigh McEnany: (03:26) He was not joking about coronavirus. I just said he was joking about the media and their failure to understand the fact that when you test more, you also find more cases. [Mica 00:03:35].

Mica: (03:35) Kayleigh, thanks so much. To follow up on that, has the president ever delayed the allocation of federal funding that’s already been dedicated to national testing?

Kayleigh McEnany: (03:44) No, on the contrary the president has led the way to make us the leading country in the world on testing. In fact the FDA has authorized 144 tests under EUAs, Emergency Use Authorizations. These include 122 molecular tests, 21 antibody tests, one antigen test and the president has led the way in making us the world’s leader with regard to testing.

Mica: (04:07) So why is the administration sitting on about $14 billion of funds that have been approved but not yet allocated?

Kayleigh McEnany: (04:13) I just mentioned the $1.8 billion at NIH that’s there and we’re exploring new testing, we’re leading the world in testing and we will continue to do so. Yes.

Mica: (04:21) Kayleigh, I have a question of my own. Last July, President Trump declared himself the least racist person there is anywhere in the world. Why does he use racist phrases like the kung flu?

Kayleigh McEnany: (04:33) The president doesn’t. What the president does do is point to the fact that the origin of the virus is China. It’s a fair thing to point out as China tries to ridiculously rewrite history, ridiculously blame the coronavirus on American soldiers. This is what China’s trying to do and what President Trump is saying, “No China, I will label this virus for its place of origin.”

Mica: (04:56) That’s what he’s saying by using the racist phrase kung flu?

Kayleigh McEnany: (04:59) He is linking it to its place of origin.

Mica: (05:01) What does he have to say to Asian-Americans who are deeply offended and worried that his use will lead to further attacks and discrimination?

Kayleigh McEnany: (05:09) The president has said very clearly it’s important that we totally protect our Asian community in the U.S. and all around the world. They’re amazing people and the spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way, shape or form. They’re working closely with us to get rid of it. We will prevail together. It’s very important so it’s not a discussion about Asian-Americans who the president values and prizes as citizens of this great country. It is an indictment of China for letting this virus get here and I would also point out that the media blames President Trump for using the terms China virus and Wuhan virus when they themselves have used these very terms, the New York Times called it the Chinese coronavirus, Reuters the Chinese virus, CNN the Chinese coronavirus on January 20, Washington Post January 21 Chinese coronavirus and I have more than a dozen other examples.

Mica: (05:54) This is a separate category, Kayleigh. Kung flu is extremely offensive to many people in the Asian-American community. To be clear, are you saying the White House does not believe it is racist?

Kayleigh McEnany: (06:05) To be clear I think the media is trying to play games with the terminology of this virus, where the focus should be on the fact that China let this out of their country. The same phrase that the media roundly now condemns has been used by the media, I can go more examples, Wuhan virus, CNN said on January 22, and we can go on and on and on so while the media wants to focus on nomenclature, the president’s going to focus on action. Yes.

Speaker 4: (06:31) Kayleigh, the president and the attorney general over the weekend offered different explanations behind the firing of Jeffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Can you clarify now why Berman was dismissed and if it was at the president’s request?

Kayleigh McEnany: (06:45) Well I think that they were very much in sync this weekend, the attorney general and the president, and here’s what happened. The president held Mr. Clayton in very high regard, wanted to nominate him to this position in SDNY to keep him in the government as he returns to New York. Barr was working on a smooth transition and when Berman chose to respond in the way that he did, he came to the president and the president agreed and fired this individual, Mr. Berman as Mr. Clayton now will in time get to that position.

Speaker 4: (07:15) Why was Mr. Berman being dismissed in the first place?

Kayleigh McEnany: (07:17) Because Mr. Clayton wanted to go back to New York City, we wanted to keep him in government, and therefore he was given the position at SDNY. [Katelyn 00:07:25].

Katelyn: (07:25) But why did the president … I have two questions. But why did the president say he wasn’t involved in the firing of Jeff Berman when the attorney general said the president was the one who fired him?

Kayleigh McEnany: (07:36) Because the attorney general was taking the lead on this matter. He did come to the president and report to him when Mr. Berman decided not to leave and at that point is when the president agreed with the decision of the attorney general to fire Mr. Berman and to promote Mr. Clayton.

Katelyn: (07:50) So he was involved in it then.

Kayleigh McEnany: (07:52) He was involved in the sign-off capacity. AG Barr was leading the way but in a sign-off capacity yes the president was.

Katelyn: (08:00) So my second question on testing is you said the president made that comment in jest about having people slow down the testing. The vice president just said that it was made in passing, Peter Navarro said it was tongue in cheek, but when the president himself was just asked by a reporter like an hour ago, he did not say that he was just joking when he said that he told officials to slow down the testing.

Kayleigh McEnany: (08:20) The president instead used that opportunity to extol the fact that we’ve done more than 25 million tests, that we’re finding more people because we’re doing more testing and I would note that what the vice president said and Peter Navarro, whether it’s in jest, in passing, or tongue in cheek, those are all synonymous. Yes, Justin.

Katelyn: (08:36) Why is that funny? I just want to note to follow-up on, you don’t even have to answer this. The media has never called it the kung flu. Calling it the Chinese coronavirus and calling it the kung flu are very different things.

Kayleigh McEnany: (08:46) The media and your network specifically –

Katelyn: (08:48) The New York Times [inaudible 00:08:49] called the kung flu?

Kayleigh McEnany: (08:49) The media and your network specifically have repeatedly used the term –

Katelyn: (08:54) They call it the kung flu?

Kayleigh McEnany: (08:54) China virus –

Katelyn: (08:55) Kung flu?

Kayleigh McEnany: (08:55) And Wuhan virus and then gone on to deride the president as somehow using a term that they themselves have never used so we can go through CNN’s history –

Katelyn: (09:05) It’s not a medical term, Kayleigh. You know that.

Kayleigh McEnany: (09:05) I’d be more than happy to go through CNN’s history. On February 9, you guys talked about the Wuhan coronavirus. On January 23, you guys talked about the Wuhan coronavirus. On January 22, the Wuhan virus. I can write it all out for you and detail it for you in an email. Yes, Justin.

Katelyn: (09:17) But nobody was calling it the kung flu though Kailey, you’ve got to admit that. It is not the same thing as calling it the kung flu.

Kayleigh McEnany: (09:22) Yes Justin?

Justin: (09:25) I first wanted to follow on what you were just talking about with Berman. So obviously the president made the decision to nominate Clayton for the job and that led to the sort of kerfuffle that we saw over the weekend, but there was this decision to remove Berman from the post before Clayton was either nominated or more importantly confirmed and so I think the question is why he did take the acting U.S. attorney out of his job before there was a Senate-confirmed replacement?

Kayleigh McEnany: (09:58) Because there is an intent to put Clayton there and so there will be an interim individual, an acting attorney as we work to get Mr. Clayton in that position.

TRANSSCRIPT Kayleigh McEnany: (00:00) This past Father’s Day weekend, we saw violence across the country but we saw scant media coverage of this violence. Let’s be clear here. The states are responsible for policing their streets, the governors, the mayors are responsible for ensuring that our streets are safe, that the American people are protected and what we have seen is in far too many Democrat-run states and Democrat-run cities, we have seen violence and chaos and nothing like the law and order that we saw here in D.C. when President Trump stepped in and [inaudible 00:00:33] the National Guard. In Chicago for instance we saw over 100 people were shot and 14 tragically killed including a three-year-old was among the victims, and local news outlet tragically reported that multiple teenagers were killed in Chicago in this weekend as well. In Minneapolis, 11 people were shot and one person killed. One individual was a father of two who worked as a barber and our hearts break for this family. Also in Democrat-run New York City, we saw that the New York Post reported that there was one shooting per hour this Saturday. Absolutely inexcusable, with 24 people shot on Saturday alone.

Kayleigh McEnany: (01:14) Then in Democrat-run Seattle, we’ve seen the autonomous zone otherwise known as CHOP, C-H-O-P, one person was shot and killed in this autonomous zone run by radical anarchists and also we saw another shooting there yesterday as well and Democrat mayor of the city called Chop “the summer of love” but it has been nothing of the sort clearly with two individuals shot, one person shot and killed. It is the responsibility of governors to protect their states, to police their streets. The police power rests at the state level, and we expect mayors to step up and to do their job and governors to step up and do their job in the mold of President Trump who secured D.C. after a night of lawlessness two weeks ago.

Kayleigh McEnany: (02:01) Finally the defund police movement is misguided. It will only hurt the vulnerable citizens of American cities the most. It’s sad ant is is shameful, and with that, I’ll take questions. Yes.

Speaker 2: (02:13) Kayleigh, thank you. Has the president actually directed officials to slow down the rate of coronavirus testing?

Kayleigh McEnany: (02:18) No, he has not directed that and in fact I would note that first we continue to test about 500,000 per day, about half a million people per day. $1.8 billion is invested in NIH to find new testing capabilities. Any suggestion that testing has been curtailed is not rooted in fact and yeah, I would just note the extraordinary efforts of this administration more than at this point 26.7 million tests and we should be north of that.

Speaker 2: (02:45) When he said Saturday that he told his people to slow it down, what did he mean by that?

Kayleigh McEnany: (02:50) The president was trying to expose what the media oftentimes does is they ignore the fact that the United States has more cases because we have more testing. We are leading the world in testing and he was pointing that out so that it’s a fact that the media readily ignores.

Speaker 2: (03:07) What he’s saying that he told his people to slow down testing is not true?

Kayleigh McEnany: (03:08) It was a comment that he made in jest. It’s a comment that he made in passing, specifically with regard to the media coverage and pointing out the fact that the media never acknowledges that we have more cases because when you test more people, you find more cases.

Speaker 2: (03:22) Is it appropriate to joke about coronavirus when 120,000 people have died?

Kayleigh McEnany: (03:26) He was not joking about coronavirus. I just said he was joking about the media and their failure to understand the fact that when you test more, you also find more cases. [Mica 00:03:35].

Mica: (03:35) Kayleigh, thanks so much. To follow up on that, has the president ever delayed the allocation of federal funding that’s already been dedicated to national testing?

Kayleigh McEnany: (03:44) No, on the contrary the president has led the way to make us the leading country in the world on testing. In fact the FDA has authorized 144 tests under EUAs, Emergency Use Authorizations. These include 122 molecular tests, 21 antibody tests, one antigen test and the president has led the way in making us the world’s leader with regard to testing.

Mica: (04:07) So why is the administration sitting on about $14 billion of funds that have been approved but not yet allocated?

Kayleigh McEnany: (04:13) I just mentioned the $1.8 billion at NIH that’s there and we’re exploring new testing, we’re leading the world in testing and we will continue to do so. Yes.

Mica: (04:21) Kayleigh, I have a question of my own. Last July, President Trump declared himself the least racist person there is anywhere in the world. Why does he use racist phrases like the kung flu?

Kayleigh McEnany: (04:33) The president doesn’t. What the president does do is point to the fact that the origin of the virus is China. It’s a fair thing to point out as China tries to ridiculously rewrite history, ridiculously blame the coronavirus on American soldiers. This is what China’s trying to do and what President Trump is saying, “No China, I will label this virus for its place of origin.”

Mica: (04:56) That’s what he’s saying by using the racist phrase kung flu?

Kayleigh McEnany: (04:59) He is linking it to its place of origin.

Mica: (05:01) What does he have to say to Asian-Americans who are deeply offended and worried that his use will lead to further attacks and discrimination?

Kayleigh McEnany: (05:09) The president has said very clearly it’s important that we totally protect our Asian community in the U.S. and all around the world. They’re amazing people and the spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way, shape or form. They’re working closely with us to get rid of it. We will prevail together. It’s very important so it’s not a discussion about Asian-Americans who the president values and prizes as citizens of this great country. It is an indictment of China for letting this virus get here and I would also point out that the media blames President Trump for using the terms China virus and Wuhan virus when they themselves have used these very terms, the New York Times called it the Chinese coronavirus, Reuters the Chinese virus, CNN the Chinese coronavirus on January 20, Washington Post January 21 Chinese coronavirus and I have more than a dozen other examples.

Mica: (05:54) This is a separate category, Kayleigh. Kung flu is extremely offensive to many people in the Asian-American community. To be clear, are you saying the White House does not believe it is racist?

Kayleigh McEnany: (06:05) To be clear I think the media is trying to play games with the terminology of this virus, where the focus should be on the fact that China let this out of their country. The same phrase that the media roundly now condemns has been used by the media, I can go more examples, Wuhan virus, CNN said on January 22, and we can go on and on and on so while the media wants to focus on nomenclature, the president’s going to focus on action. Yes.

Speaker 4: (06:31) Kayleigh, the president and the attorney general over the weekend offered different explanations behind the firing of Jeffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Can you clarify now why Berman was dismissed and if it was at the president’s request?

Kayleigh McEnany: (06:45) Well I think that they were very much in sync this weekend, the attorney general and the president, and here’s what happened. The president held Mr. Clayton in very high regard, wanted to nominate him to this position in SDNY to keep him in the government as he returns to New York. Barr was working on a smooth transition and when Berman chose to respond in the way that he did, he came to the president and the president agreed and fired this individual, Mr. Berman as Mr. Clayton now will in time get to that position.

Speaker 4: (07:15) Why was Mr. Berman being dismissed in the first place?

Kayleigh McEnany: (07:17) Because Mr. Clayton wanted to go back to New York City, we wanted to keep him in government, and therefore he was given the position at SDNY. [Katelyn 00:07:25].

Katelyn: (07:25) But why did the president … I have two questions. But why did the president say he wasn’t involved in the firing of Jeff Berman when the attorney general said the president was the one who fired him?

Kayleigh McEnany: (07:36) Because the attorney general was taking the lead on this matter. He did come to the president and report to him when Mr. Berman decided not to leave and at that point is when the president agreed with the decision of the attorney general to fire Mr. Berman and to promote Mr. Clayton.

Katelyn: (07:50) So he was involved in it then.

Kayleigh McEnany: (07:52) He was involved in the sign-off capacity. AG Barr was leading the way but in a sign-off capacity yes the president was.

Katelyn: (08:00) So my second question on testing is you said the president made that comment in jest about having people slow down the testing. The vice president just said that it was made in passing, Peter Navarro said it was tongue in cheek, but when the president himself was just asked by a reporter like an hour ago, he did not say that he was just joking when he said that he told officials to slow down the testing.

Kayleigh McEnany: (08:20) The president instead used that opportunity to extol the fact that we’ve done more than 25 million tests, that we’re finding more people because we’re doing more testing and I would note that what the vice president said and Peter Navarro, whether it’s in jest, in passing, or tongue in cheek, those are all synonymous. Yes, Justin.

Katelyn: (08:36) Why is that funny? I just want to note to follow-up on, you don’t even have to answer this. The media has never called it the kung flu. Calling it the Chinese coronavirus and calling it the kung flu are very different things.

Kayleigh McEnany: (08:46) The media and your network specifically –

Katelyn: (08:48) The New York Times [inaudible 00:08:49] called the kung flu?

Kayleigh McEnany: (08:49) The media and your network specifically have repeatedly used the term –

Katelyn: (08:54) They call it the kung flu?

Kayleigh McEnany: (08:54) China virus –

Katelyn: (08:55) Kung flu?

Kayleigh McEnany: (08:55) And Wuhan virus and then gone on to deride the president as somehow using a term that they themselves have never used so we can go through CNN’s history –

Katelyn: (09:05) It’s not a medical term, Kayleigh. You know that.

Kayleigh McEnany: (09:05) I’d be more than happy to go through CNN’s history. On February 9, you guys talked about the Wuhan coronavirus. On January 23, you guys talked about the Wuhan coronavirus. On January 22, the Wuhan virus. I can write it all out for you and detail it for you in an email. Yes, Justin.

Katelyn: (09:17) But nobody was calling it the kung flu though Kailey, you’ve got to admit that. It is not the same thing as calling it the kung flu.

Kayleigh McEnany: (09:22) Yes Justin?

Justin: (09:25) I first wanted to follow on what you were just talking about with Berman. So obviously the president made the decision to nominate Clayton for the job and that led to the sort of kerfuffle that we saw over the weekend, but there was this decision to remove Berman from the post before Clayton was either nominated or more importantly confirmed and so I think the question is why he did take the acting U.S. attorney out of his job before there was a Senate-confirmed replacement?

Kayleigh McEnany: (09:58) Because there is an intent to put Clayton there and so there will be an interim individual, an acting attorney as we work to get Mr. Clayton in that position.

Justin: (10:06) Yeah, but I guess the question is why didn’t he continue in his position until Clayton was con