White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany was not asked any questions about an outbreak of violent crime in major cities across America during Monday’s 20-minute White House press briefing.
“Let’s be clear here, these states are responsible for policing their streets,” McEnany said in her opening remarks to reporters. “The governors, the mayors are responsible for ensuring that our streets are safe. … 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.”
McEnany read a list of instances involving shootings and other violent crimes over Father’s Day weekend, admonishing the national media for not covering the trend more thoroughly.
In Chicago, more than 100 people were shot, and 14 people were killed during various shootings within the city — the highest number of shooting victims over one weekend. One of the victims in Chicago was a 3-year-old boy.
In Minneapolis, a dozen people were shot, and one was killed Saturday during a late-night attack in the city’s Uptown District, which the local police chief says has seen an uptick in violent crime over the last several days.
The New York City Police Department reported a new shooting at a rate of once an hour over the weekend, with 24 people shot on Saturday, McEnany said, calling the trend “inexcusable.”
“We expect mayors to step up and to do their job and governors to step up and do their job,” she said.
[Read more: Kayleigh McEnany dismisses reports that Trump is furious with Tulsa rally]
During the 20-minute long news conference, the White House press secretary was peppered with at least four questions about President Trump’s referral to the coronavirus as the “Kung flu” during a rally in Tulsa on Saturday.
“It has more names than any disease in history. I can name Kung flu. I can name 19 different versions of names,” Trump said.
McEnany brushed those questions aside, noting various national media outlets have called the virus the “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan virus.”
“The media has never called it the Kung flu. Calling it the Chinese coronavirus and calling it the Kung flu are very different things,” CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins said to McEnany.
“On Feb. 9, you guys talked about the ‘Wuhan coronavirus,’ on Jan. 23, you guys talked about the ‘Wuhan coronavirus,’ on Jan. 22, the ‘Wuhan virus.’ I could write it all up for you,” McEnany said before moving on to another reporter.
