CNN Fact Checks New Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany and Say She Made False Claims in First Briefing

Yesterday, new White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany held her first press briefing and pledged that she would “never lie” to the White House reporters. CNN however, felt that she then “proceeded to say a bunch of things that weren’t true.”

They said that “whether they were deliberate lies or inadvertent false claims.” They couldn’t “be certain; since it was her first time at the podium after being hired.”

CNN said that McEnany defends Flynn by misquoting FBI notes. They say that she added the phrase “we need” before “to get him to lie,” even though she said it was a word-for-word quote. It seems like real nitpicking.

Continuing with the Flynn case, CNN claimed McEnany exaggerated the cost and outcome of the Mueller investigation. McEnany said, “I’ve seen a whole lot of scant information about Michael Flynn, when there was speculation about Russia, Russia, Russia, culminating in $40 million of taxpayer money being lost in a complete and total exoneration of President Trump.”

They said that it wasn’t a total exoneration and that it “actually” cost $32 million instead of the $40 million. Again, it is not that her claims were completely false, but one would be an interpretation of the situation and the other, Trump may have more information on the costs than the press does. Clearly there may have been a few extra costs involved than what was reported by the DOJ.

They then listed two more examples, one in regards to Trump’s tweet about Michigan and McEnany saying that “The President was referencing generally that in this country you have a First Amendment right to protest.” It seems hard to say, but McEnany should know what the President meant.

The last one was in regards to Trump and the intelligence community’s stance on Coronavirus. They called her statements a stretch, but wouldn’t say that what she said was completely false. And again, it’s what the administration has to say versus what the press thinks they know.