The White House press secretary compared President Trump with Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill as she defended his controversial decision to visit a church targeted by arsonists.
Trump’s walk to St. John’s Episcopal Church on Monday sparked two days of questions about the methods used by police to clear protesters from Lafayette Park, through which Trump strolled to get to the church.
Kayleigh McEnany said the visit showed that America would not be cowed by violence and compared the moment with the way Churchill stood with Britons during the London Blitz of World War II.
“Very powerful symbols that were important for a nation to see at any given time to show a message of resilience and determination, like Churchill. We saw him inspecting the bomb damage. It sent a powerful message of leadership to the British people,” she said.
“And George W. Bush throwing out the ceremonial first pitch after 9/11.”
She also cited Jimmy Carter putting on a sweater to encourage energy savings in 1977 and the moment when George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act flanked by two disabled Americans.
“For this president, it was powerful and important to send a message that the rioters, the looters, the anarchists, they will not prevail; that burning churches are not what America is about,” she said.
Opponents declared themselves unimpressed by the comparison. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN: “I think they’re hallucinating.”
Officials were delighted by the way Trump was captured in photographs striding out from the White House to visit the church.
They described it as “iconic” and shared images with each other on their smartphones.
But peaceful protesters complained they had been charged by police and showered with tear gas to make way for the president’s visit.
McEnany used her Wednesday briefing to say that tear gas was not used.
A day earlier, U.S. Park Police acting chief Gregory Monahan also denied that tear gas was deployed.
“As many of the protesters became more combative, continued to throw projectiles, and attempted to grab officers’ weapons, officers then employed the use of smoke canisters and pepper balls,” he said.
A journalist present recovered a used canister of “Oleoresins Capiscum,” a pepper spray that is classified as a tear gas by some definitions.
