White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany made a 2020 campaign stop in the guise of an unofficial briefing on Fox & Friends this morning, where there were no tough questions and none of the hosts pushed back on her many lies.
After a clip was played of former Vice President Joe Biden criticizing Donald Trump’s economic record, cohost and “tough-journalist wannabe” Ainsley Earhardt “asked,” “Is that fair? We just went through – we are in the middle of a pandemic.”
That was McEnany’s first opportunity to misinform. “Obama-Biden oversaw the slowest economic recovery since World War II … Compare that to President Trump’s fastest economic recovery in modern history. … Record number of jobs created, outpacing the rest of the world in terms of an economic recovery.” She referred to “the pathetic record of Obama-Biden.”
FACT CHECK: Take a look at these charts. If the Obama economy was so “pathetic,” then why did every indicator, except for the national debt, fare better during his tenure?
“Tough journalist” Earhardt made no challenge.
Speaking about a COVID-19 vaccine, McEnany claimed Trump is “going to depend on the scientists, which is what he’s done every single step of the way." She accused Democrats of "literally playing politics with people’s lives here by sowing doubt about a vaccine. We have renowned experts over at Operation Warp Speed that are working on this. President Trump has tore through bureaucratic barriers so we can get a safe, effective and timely vaccine.”
FACT CHECK: Trump has a longstanding practice of undermining scientific expertise for political purposes. He also lashes out at scientists whose findings contradict his.
A recent ABC News/Ipsos poll found that 63% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Once again, the three sycophants said nothing to challenge or correct McEnany’s disinformation.
Cohost Steve Doocy asked about Trump’s claim that Biden will raise taxes “four trillion dollars on 80% of the people.” Feigning the role of a real journalist, Doocy asked, “Where are you getting that figure?”
McEnany replied, “Look at the payroll tax. On Capitol Hill, you have a Democrat there proposing to roll back the president’s payroll tax forgiveness. This is a huge tax that benefits mostly middle and low-income workers. And at the same time, we’re not touching Social Security.
FACT CHECK: This is another McEnany lie. The payroll tax is a dedicated funding source for Social Security. Eliminating that source risks destabilizing it.
Doocy asked half a challenge. “Doesn’t a majority of the four trillion come from people making more than $400,000 a year?” But then he let McEnany lie in her response.
“When you look at the Trump tax cuts, what they’ve done is benefit mostly low and middle-income Americans,” she misinformed.
FACT CHECK: The rich benefitted most.
Doocy was through putting up any challenges.
The discussion moved on to reports that Trump has smeared fallen U.S. soldiers as "suckers" and "losers," which will be a separate post, coming up next.
Meanwhile, watch McEnany get free rein to lie to viewers below, from the September 8, 2020 Fox & Friends.
PS: One of those companies has just suspended Phase 3 trials due to a mysterious illness that may or may not be linked to their vaccine.
The reaction of big business to so much of what the current administration is saying and doing is becoming a source of hope. My main source for the USA is CNN and, till very recently at least, many big companies were paying for ads pledging to improve diversity in their ranks. I’m hoping to see those ads again, soon.
