Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany | 12/15/2020 | Eastern North Carolina Now

    And she stood against liability protection. This is protection for our small businesses, so that they're not held liable for COVID incidences through no fault of their own. And she's really playing up to the trial lawyers and opposing liability protection, which should be something that's just mere common sense.

    Q One other question about confirmations of Biden's Cabinet picks. President Trump had the benefit of the Senate starting hearings and starting the process before he was inaugurated in January of 2017. Does the President oppose the Senate taking up Joe Biden's nominees before the inauguration?

    MS. MCENANY: I think that's a hypothetical, and, you know, he won't get ahead of that activity actually happening. But he has taken all statutory requirements necessary to either ensure a smooth transition or a continuation of power.

    Yes.

    Q Thanks, Kayleigh. Given the success of Operation Warp Speed, why hasn't President Trump been more visible during this initial vaccine rollout? You have the Vice President in Indiana today. Where's President Trump?

    MS. MCENANY: President Trump has been hard at work on COVID behind the scenes. Just because you don't see him at the podium every day doesn't mean that he's not aggressively pursuing actions on behalf of the American people. He's briefed on COVID regularly, and I'm here speaking with you guys. Others are out communicating this information.

    Yeah.

    Q Could you comment on the Russian hackers breaching several federal agencies? How serious was this breach? And is the Trump administration considering retaliating?

    MS. MCENANY: Look, the U.S. government - we're aware of all of these reports. We're taking all necessary steps to identify and remedy any possible issues related to the situation. As one step in that process, CISA has issued an emergency directive on Sunday night for all federal civilian agencies to review their networks for indicators of compromise and disconnect or to power down SolarWinds, Orion products immediately. So we are taking a hard look on this and, obviously, take any sort of cyber hacks very seriously.

    Q And just one more question on Russia. Since Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated President-elect

    Joe Biden, any comment on that from the Russian President?

    MS. MCENANY: No comment on that. I leave it to the President to react to that.

    Q Has he spoken to President Trump?

    MS. MCENANY: Not that I'm aware of. No.

    Let's see. David.

    Q Does the President intend to run for election in 2024? And would you like to be part of that campaign?

    MS. MCENANY: I will leave that to the President, but he's still pursuing ongoing litigation at the moment for this election. Yes.

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    Todd.

    Q Thanks. President Trump supported the Texas lawsuit at the Supreme Court - a lawsuit that President-elect Biden called an "assault" on democracy. How is it not - is it not anti-democratic to try to nullify 20 million votes?

    MS. MCENANY: I think pursuing legitimate litigation through the judicial system is in no way assaulting democracy. In fact, it's - it's using democrat institutions in the manner they are to be used: to pursue legitimate claims with sworn affidavits and additional evidence.

    But I do think what is an assault on democracy are the four investigations into President Trump over Russia collusion that turned up nothing. I mean, Mueller alone - you had 19 lawyers, 40 FBI agents, 2,800 subpoenas, 500 search warrants, millions of taxpayer dollars - all to find no collusion. And the investigation into President Trump began far before he was even elected President of the United States.

    And his intel briefings, in the transition period, were even weaponized against him. An "insurance policy" from Peter Strzok was put in place against this President prior to him being elected. That is what is an assault on democracy.

    Blake.

    Q Thanks, Kayleigh. I want to ask you about COVID relief negotiations. But just to hone down on what was asked about the vaccine: Yes or no - we should expect to see President Trump take a coronavirus vaccine before January 20th and do so on camera?

    MS. MCENANY: He will take it on when his - when health experts and his White House doctor ask him to do so and says it's the appropriate time. He is very open to taking this, but also wants to prioritize our frontline workers.

    Since you brought up the vaccine - before you get to your next question - one thing I do want to make clear is that there are 2.9 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine that have gone out. In 21 days, there will be an additional 2.9 million of those doses - because, of course, the Pfizer vaccine is two doses. And there are going to be rolling updates and shipments of the vaccines. Of course, we've secured millions in advance.

    And this Friday, there will be 4 million Pfizer vaccines going out. We are hopeful that Moderna gets approved. The F- - FDA said that the data looks good. We're waiting for that EUA. So hopefully there will be that EUA and then an additional 6 million Moderna doses out next week. So 10 million doses out next week.

    And I want to emphasize - just stepping back from a macro perspective - because it is so impressive what this President did, making these agreements in advance. And he secured not just tens of millions of doses, but, in fact, hundreds of millions. There's the 100 million with Pfizer. There's 100 million with Moderna. We've secured another 100 million from Moderna. We're hopeful that we will get an additional 100 million from Pfizer. I think we will. And then Johnson & Johnson is nearing the end of its phase three clinical trial; that's another 100 million doses secured with hundreds of millions doses more if needed. And then AstraZeneca, which is in phase three clinical trial, 300 million doses secured.

    So it's a really impressive achievement what this President has done. But what's your next question?

    Q On the - on the relief negotiations, so there's this meeting this afternoon: the Big Four up on the Hill. We're told, by the way, that Secretary Mnuchin will be there. If the Big Four, if the Treasury Secretary are able to come to some sort of a deal, would President Trump sign off on it? Or does he have specific asks, specific red lines that have to be in any sort of deal?

    MS. MCENANY: I think we'll wait to see what that deal looks like. He's said that he would really like to see those stimulus checks in there. But his priority, at the end of the day, is getting relief to the American people. We're hopeful there will be some sort of agreement.

    But I would note that we've been the party that's been flexible. We've been the party that's said, "Hey, standalone PPP." That's funding for small businesses and funding for businesses, generally, to go to pay their employees. We've had a standalone bill that we supported there. We had a standalone - a standalone unemployment insurance bill. So we've been the party that's been flexible on this.

    Q And just to be clear: If there is a deal that doesn't have direct payments, the President would support it or not?

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    MS. MCENANY: I'm not going to say if that's a red line or not. I won't get ahead of the negotiations. But I'll just say that we are hopeful there's a deal there that the President can then look at and support.

    Yes, Katherine.

    Q Does the White House have any comment on Crede Bailey, the Security Director who had his leg amputated due to COVID?

    MS. MCENANY: Yeah, our heart goes out to his family. They've asked for privacy. And he is recovering, from what I understand. We're very pleased to see that. But he and his family will be in our prayers.

    Q Has the President had a chance to speak with him?

    MS. MCENANY: I'm not sure if the President has had a private conversation with him, nor would I confirm any - any private conversation that he did have.

    Lalit.

    Q Thank you. Thank you for doing this. Over the weekend, the statue of Mahatma Gandhi was desecrated by some protesters in downtown D.C. This is for the second time this has happened. I would love to hear your comments on that.

    MS. MCENANY: Yeah. It's terrible. No statue or memorial should be desecrated, and certainly not one like that of Gandhi, who really fought for the values that America represents of peace, justice, and freedom. So that desecration is appalling to see. It's appalling that it's happened more than once. And we believe the reputation of Mahatma Gandhi should be respected, especially here in America's capital.

    Q Can I ask one more, if I -

    MS. MCENANY: Sure.

    Q Does the President believe that the democracy in United States is under threat? And based on his tweets, what other electoral reforms he wants to push in this country?

    MS. MCENANY: What was the first part of your question? I couldn't -

    Q Does the President believe that democracy in the United States is under threat?

    MS. MCENANY: That democracy is under threat? He believes that - he certainly was under assault when it comes to the investigations into his administration: the Mueller probe, the unfortunate way that our FBI was mishandled by folks like Andy McCabe, by folks like Jim Comey, and weaponized in a political way against his candidacy and then against his - his presidency.

    Yes, Charlotte.

    Q Thanks, Kayleigh. Is President Trump planning to take any action after seeing the forensic audit of the machines in Antrim County, Michigan?

    MS. MCENANY: I'd have to refer you to the campaign on anything regarding the election.

    Q And just as far as the 2018 executive order on election interference, has he received a report yet? And when he does receive it, is any of that going to be available for the public to look at?

    MS. MCENANY: I am not aware of any report that he's received to that end.

    Chanel.

    Q Thank you, Kayleigh. Just want an update statement on Iran, especially in light of the just-signed Israel-Morocco deal. Where does the White House see Iran standing in the Middle East now? Especially, what is the current assessment in the White House with regards to Iran's standing in the Middle East as you continue to sign Middle East deals? Are they going to strengthen? Is it weakening? What is the current White House assessment on Iran?

    MS. MCENANY: Yes, the region increasingly comes together through these peace deals, which Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, Avi Berkowitz, and others - National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien - deserve a ton of credit for. It's remarkable.

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    But as the region continues to come together, our maximum pressure campaign continues to be effective. Iran is increasingly isolated and weakened. And when President Trump came into office, you know that the region was in extreme turmoil, ISIS had a caliphate, and Iran's proxies were wreaking havoc.

    Since taking office, President Trump has worked to rebuild trust with our regional partners and identify their shared interests. And unlike the previous administration, which gave Iran piles of cash and a deal with a sunset provision that would have allowed them to get nuclear weapons, this President has isolated Iran, and he's done it through four peace deals, which is four more than his predecessor.
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