White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany in her first press briefing since the 2020 election, dismissed a CNN reporter who repetitively shouted a question and asked why she wasn’t one to be selected at the end of Friday press briefing, provoking a fiery response where she told her that she doesn’t “call on activists.”
Towards the end, McEnany wrapped up the briefing reminding the reporters in the room since the president won the 2016 election and the last four years, Trump “was never given an orderly transition of power” and “his presidency was never accepted.”
“Also something that I would note is just we talked a lot about the transfer of power in the election, and it’s worth remembering that this President was never given an orderly transition of power,” McEnany said before listing examples of media and Democrats obstructions to Trump’s presidency including Crossfire Hurricane, FISA warrant, and the Mueller investigation.
“While, in 2016, President Trump became the duly elected President, many sought to undermine him, discredit him, delegitimize him, and deny his victory. There were no calls for unity; there were no calls for healing,” McEnany added. “So while every legal vote is counted, let us not forget the inexcusable transition, or lack thereof, that President Trump had to endure in 2016 and four years into his presidency.”
During the twenty-minute press conference, McEnany took questions from several reporters while speaking on different issues regarding a COVID vaccine, drug-pricing announcement. winding down the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and among other issues. She also had to deal with an unhinged reporter who wouldn’t stop shouting at her during the briefing with questions on when will President Trump will concede or admit he lost the 2020 presidential election.
“When you gonna admit you lost?” Playboy’s reporter Brian Karem heckled McEnany as she was speaking during the briefing.
As McEnany began to leave the podium, the CNN reporter began shouting a question, prompting the press secretary to offer a sharp rebuttal.
“I don’t call on activists,” McEnany snapped back at the CNN reporter.
“I’m not an activist,” the CNN reporter shouted back. “You hadn’t taken questions since Oct. 1 and you just took about five, Kayleigh. That’s not doing your job, your taxpayer-funded job.”
On Twitter, the CNN White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins followed up after being irked that the press secretary called her “an activist,” saying McEnany is “confuse” as she is “someone who hasn’t done their job taking questions from reporters in weeks.”
It’s understandable why someone who hasn’t done their job — taking questions from reporters — in weeks would confuse someone else doing theirs with activism.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) November 20, 2020
Collins during a CNN hit later in the evening explained the circumstances of what happened, overall blaming the president for what he is doing, she claims, as an “unprecedented effort to try to overturn the results of the election.”
“It’s clear she’s not calling on people whose questions she doesn’t really want to answer,” Collins reported on CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront. “It’s a widespread effort throughout the government to not answer questions, as evidenced by the president, then coming in the briefing room a few hours later, not taking a single question even though he touted it as a news conference.”
She added, “I think you just see people not want to answer questions about what the President is doing this unprecedented effort, an effort to try to overturn the results of the election.”
20202020 Election2020 Presidential Race45Brian KaremCNNKaitlan CollinsKayleigh McEnanyOutfrontPresident TrumpWhite HouseWhite House NewsWhite House Press BriefingWhite House Press Secretary
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