White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany slaps down the media over tough question on coronavirus response

White House press secretary Kayleign McEnany was praised by many for her response to a tough question about her claim that President Donald Trump would not allow coronavirus to reach the United States.

McEnany used the question to close out the media briefing on Wednesday.

"Um, Kayleigh, in a previous life, before you were press secretary, you worked for the campaign, and you made a comment, I believe on Fox, in which you said President Trump will not allow the coronavirus to come to this country," said Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason.

"Given what has happened since then, obviously, would you like to take that back?" he asked.

"Well, first let me note I was asked a question on Fox Business about the president's travel restrictions. I noted what was the intent behind those travel restrictions, which is, we will not see the coronavirus come here, we will not see terrorism come here, referring to an earlier set of travel restrictions," answered McEnany.

"I guess I would turn the question back on the media and ask similar questions," she continued.

"Does Vox want to take back that they proclaimed that the coronavirus would not be a deadly pandemic? Does the Washington Post want to take back that they told Americans to get a grip, the flu is bigger than the coronavirus?" she asked.

"Does the Washington Post likewise want to take back that our brains are causing us to exaggerate the threat of the coronavirus? Does the New York Times want to take back that fear of the virus may be spreading faster than the virus itself?" McEnany continued.

"Does NPR want to take back that the flu was a much bigger threat than the coronavirus? And finally, once again the Washington Post, would they like to take back that the government should not respond aggressively to the coronavirus?" she added.

"I'll leave you with those questions, and maybe you'll have some answers in a few days!" McEnany concluded cheerfully.

Critics of the administration accused McEnany of employing "whataboutism" to duck the difficult question, while critics of the media praised her for being prepared to use headlines of the mainstream media against them.

Here's the video of McEnany's answer:

McEnany torches press repeating their previous claims downplaying coronaviruswww.youtube.com