Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Trump's Press Secretary Claims Trump Hasn't Cut Back on Press Briefings Despite Not Having One for 3 Days, and Even Fox News Is Confused

Trump's Press Secretary Claims Trump Hasn't Cut Back on Press Briefings Despite Not Having One for 3 Days, and Even Fox News Is Confused
Fox News

UPDATE April 27, 5:34pm: Since publication, McEnany announced that the President would hold a press briefing on Monday evening after all. The article has been updated to reflect this development.

It took a global pandemic and a national health crisis, but after more than a year without a daily White House press briefing, President Donald Trump's virus task force began holding daily updates to keep Americans informed on the expert-recommended precautions and the progress at slowing the spread.

Any information presented in these briefings, however, has often been obscured by the President's typical response to scrutiny: angry defensive diatribes and outright lies.


In a Thursday press briefing, Trump floated the idea of injecting disinfectant as a potential cure for the virus, citing the effectiveness of bleach and isopropyl alcohol at removing the virus from shared surfaces like kitchen counters and doorknobs.

The idea sparked immediate backlash and the following day, Trump didn't take any questions from the media, nor did he hold a press briefing on Saturday or Sunday—the first time he'd skipped a briefing since Easter.

In a Saturday tweet, Trump said that press briefings weren't "worth the time and effort."

The tweet signaled a potential withdrawal from the briefings, but in a Monday morning appearance on Fox News, Trump's latest Press Secretary—Kayleigh McEnany—insisted this was not the case.

Watch below.

White House press secretary insists Trump hasn't cut back on coronavirus briefingsyoutu.be

When asked by Fox News host Ed Henry on whether or not the President was pulling back on briefings, McEnany responded:

"No, the briefings were a great opportunity for the President to speak directly to the American people. It's why millions and millions tune in to the President's briefings to watch what he has to say. They recognize leadership ... Today we're not tracking a briefing. There will be a press avail later this afternoon for CEOs that the President's meeting with...but these briefings are excellent."

Fox News host Sandra Smith jumped in to ask McEnany to clarify whether or not the administration would be cutting back on briefings.

McEnany said:

"Absolutely not an effort to cut back, but an effort to showcase the American people, the great entrepreneurship of this President."

She went on to assure that the media would be able to ask questions at an afternoon meeting between Trump and retail CEOs, claiming that the new model was an effort to showcase the American people.

"We will have briefings this week," she continued, "But again the media needs to not read into what's happening and look at this as an opportunity for the President to speak to the American people via the CEO meeting and later in the week during briefings as well."

Her answer still wasn't clear, and Smith asked if it was a confirmation that the task force briefings would continue for the rest of the week, asking if Trump would be present.

McEnany responded:

"Absolutely the President will be present. I'm not going to get ahead of what the briefings will look like this week. They may have a different look. I'm not gonna get ahead of those announcements, but make no mistake, the President will be briefing the American people this week. Millions and millions tune in to watch him and see his leadership."

People were skeptical of McEnany's assurances.





Her claims that the American people tuned in for Trump's leadership were mocked by many.



Update: Hours after McEnany's Fox interview, the press secretary announced that the President would hold a press briefing on Monday evening after all.

For a deeper look into the inner workings of the Trump administration, check out A Very Stable Genius, available here.

More from People/donald-trump

Screenshot of Nick Fuentes
America First

White Nationalist Admits That Liberals Were Right About Trump Being A 'Demagogue'

Far-right pundit and white nationalist Nick Fuentes admitted on his show that "liberals were right, fundamentally" about President Donald Trump, acknowledging Trump's brand of authoritarian populism by referring to him as a "populist demagogue."

In its modern sense, a demagogue is a political agitator who seeks to advance their political goals or personal power by appealing to people’s emotions, prejudices, and hardships.

Keep ReadingShow less
scene from Disney's Pocahontas
Disney

'Based On A True Story' Movies That Aren't True At All

The entertainment industry has long been criticized for their creative license when it comes to retelling history or anything "based on a true story."

Going back to the silent film era and D.W. Griffith's ridiculously inaccurate White supremacist propaganda Birth Of A Nation to Mel Gibson's Braveheart to Disney's Pocahontas, some films go way beyond creative license and careen into total malarkey.

Keep ReadingShow less
A person holding a fan of cash.
person holding fan of U.S. dollars banknote

People Describe The Moment They Realized They Were Privileged

There is little more off-putting than when people flaunt their wealth and privilege in other people's faces.

On the flip side, not everyone takes kindly to wealthy people who act like they're "one of us".

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk
Kevin Lamarque/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Musk's AI Chatbot Throws Republicans Under The Bus After Being Asked About Economy

Grok, billionaire Elon Musk's very own chatbot, threw Republicans under the bus after software engineer Alex Coke asked it if Democrats or Republicans have been better for the economy in the past 30 years, only for it to answer that yes, in fact, Democrats are the winners when it comes to economic policy.

Economic policy is certainly on everyone's minds these days. A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS shows that Americans are not pleased with President Donald Trump’s management of the economy, leaving him with unfavorable ratings on what is considered the nation’s most important issue.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump
Fox 5 Washington D.C./YouTube

CNN Airs Brutal Reminder Of Trump's Previous Economic Predictions—And They Did Not Age Well

CNN came with the receipts, airing a supercut of clips from 2020 and 2024 of President Donald Trump making hilariously wrong economic predictions—a damning reel of evidence as financial markets decline and investor concerns grow over Trump’s trade policies.

In fact, Trump’s escalating trade war pushed the S&P 500 more than 10% below its record high set just last month. A drop of this size is significant enough that professional investors call it a “correction,” and the S&P 500’s 1.4% decline on Thursday marked its first since 2023.

Keep ReadingShow less