Boldly Committed to Truth Telling in the False Face of Fakery
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany
Press Release:
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room • Washington D.C. • July 16 • 2:30 P.M. EDT
MS. MCENANY: Hello, everyone. This afternoon, President Trump will deliver remarks on rolling back regulations to help all Americans. Deregulation has been a top priority of this President. The President reversed the disastrous over-regulation of the Obama-Biden administration. Under President Trump, seven deregulatory actions have been taken for every one new regulation. This amounted to $50 billion in regulatory cost savings.
And it is important to note that this deregu- — deregulation agenda lowers costs for every American. The cost of these burdensome regulations fall disproportionately and benefit disproportionately lower-income Americans. So this President took action to roll back the burdensome regulations that harm low-income communities and make sure that these lower-income Americans are taken care of.
For example, the President's deregulatory agenda will boost household income by $3,100 annually. Thanks to President Trump's rolling back of the Obama-Biden-era CAFE standards, family — families will have access to cheaper cars. The President's healthcare deregulation will also save patients nearly 10 percent on prescription drug costs.
These real wins for the American people will disappear with a re-regulation agenda, which is why President Trump will continue to pursue his historic deregulatory activity.
On another note: We saw encouraging news yesterday on vaccines. Moderna's vaccine candidate is showing promising signs. They produced a positive, neutral immune response among the 45 participants in the study. This is comparable to what we see in recovered patients. And the bottom line is that, so far, we are seeing exactly what you would hope to see in a vaccine. They're expected — the Moderna vaccine in particular is expected to reach phase three by late July, with 30,000 participants
And finally, on the therapeutics front, I just want to note: A very encouraging Regeneron contract. A $450 million contract for a monoclonal antibody cocktail. This is a bioengineered version of convalescent plasma, one of the several therapeutics available to treat COVID. It can be used for prophylaxis and treatment. And they say they could have up to 70 to 300 thousand doses — vials of this by the end of the summer or early fall.
So Operation Warp Speed continues. We continue to see encouraging news on the therapeutics front. And with that, I will take your questions.
Geoff.
Q: Thank you, Kayleigh. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said today that President Trump has left states to fend for themselves during this pandemic. He accused the President of not listening to medical experts. That is quite a takedown coming from a Republican governor.
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, it's really striking, his comments, especially when you compare them to his past comments. This is revisionist history by Governor Hogan, and it stands in stark contrast to what he said on March 19th, where he praised the great communication that the President has had with governors. On March 19th, he also said, "Thank you. There's been tremendous cooperation."
And what is so striking to me about reading that op-ed is Governor Hogan begins with this dramatic April 18th scene where South Korea delivered tests, but just the day prior, he said something entirely different. He, in fact, thanked the President for the progress we've seen in federal and state coordination in recent weeks, and went on to praise testing capabilities, he said, with regard to some of the top needs of states, including ventilators and texting capabilities. So 24 hours before this dramatic opening scene of his op-ed, he literally was praising the President of the United States for delivering on testing.
Q: And how do you explain that President Trump is trailing his opponent by double digits both nationally and in battleground states, with majorities disapproving of his handling of race relations and the coronavirus response?
MS. MCENANY: So that would be a question for the campaign when it comes to campaign polling. But what I would say is we believe this President has great approval in this country. His historic COVID response speaks for itself with delivering on ventilators and testing, leading the world in the amount of testing we've provided; therapeutics; the 13 vaccine candidates — the Moderna example that I pointed out to you. This President's response has been historic, and we believe his support in this country reflects that.
But with pertaining to battleground polling or campaign-related polling, I'd refer you there.
Yes.
Q: Kayleigh, we've seen the President hold a range of public events this week, but none of those events have been focused on the coronavirus. Why not?
MS. MCENANY: The President is routinely focused on the coronavirus. I think you'll be hearing more about what we're doing in the coming week. He's hard at work. We talk about COVID every day from this podium. The task force is hard at work.
And I'm glad you ask about COVID, in particular, because I just want to read through some of the things that we are doing, which I think is — most important than what we're saying is what we're doing.
And the White House has engaged in travel. Dr. Birx went to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. I spoke with Dr. Birx this morning. She's in Georgia today, heading to South Carolina tomorrow. HHS has deployed 19 teams across the country. We identify not where we see embers, but pre that. We identify where we might see an emergence, and we send teams there to address it in advance. So we're proactive.
Dr. Birx routinely sends real-time data to governors. She gives them governors reports on remdesivir. We've surged it to Texas, Florida, California, Arizona. Sixty-five thousand vials went to these four states. And we're also surging testing sites. So we're doing stuff each and every day.
Q: But, Kayleigh, surely you would agree this is the biggest challenge facing the public right now. Why aren't we seeing it as the President's biggest public priority?
MS. MCENANY: The President is focusing on a lot. Look, the President, just yesterday, held a big press conference, if you will, or an avail in the Opal [sic] — Oval Office about MS-13. COVID is something that we're focused on. It is a top priority of this administration. It's why the task force meets. It's why I had mentioned to you we're taking all those steps.
But there are other things the President has to focus on: namely, Democrat cities not controlling their streets; namely, the mayor of Chicago — people dying in her — in her — on the streets of her city every weekend. And the President sent her a letter saying, "You must secure your city."
The President is involved in Operation LeGend, in honor of LeGend Taliferro, a young man who lost his life; sending federal assistance to St. Louis, a city that has asked for help, and he's shown up. The President is focused on MS-13, who tragically maimed and killed those two young little girls, and he's held their killer accountable — the leader of that ring.
So the President is focused on COVID. It's a top priority. He is focused on the violence in the streets. He's doing a lot of things at once, and that's the great thing about the Trump administration.
Yes.
Q: But just quickly, when is the last time he attended a task force briefing?
MS. MCENANY: The President is briefed on coronavirus each and every day.
Yes, Darlene.
Q: Thank you. Does the White House agree that it's not helpful for people to wait seven days or longer to get the results of their coronavirus test? And is the White House going to do anything to try to shorten those wait times so that people can get their results sooner?
MS. MCENANY: So we've done more than any country in the world on testing; there's no doubt about that — 42 million tests. The country with the next highest number is India at 12 million.
There are various different types of tests in this country; some take longer to process than others. But we have surged testing to the states, and we encourage them to use it to their best ability and to process those tests as quickly as possible.
...
Read the full transcript HERE.
You can visit a collection of all White House posts by clicking here.
Go Back
MS. MCENANY: Hello, everyone. This afternoon, President Trump will deliver remarks on rolling back regulations to help all Americans. Deregulation has been a top priority of this President. The President reversed the disastrous over-regulation of the Obama-Biden administration. Under President Trump, seven deregulatory actions have been taken for every one new regulation. This amounted to $50 billion in regulatory cost savings.
And it is important to note that this deregu- — deregulation agenda lowers costs for every American. The cost of these burdensome regulations fall disproportionately and benefit disproportionately lower-income Americans. So this President took action to roll back the burdensome regulations that harm low-income communities and make sure that these lower-income Americans are taken care of.
For example, the President's deregulatory agenda will boost household income by $3,100 annually. Thanks to President Trump's rolling back of the Obama-Biden-era CAFE standards, family — families will have access to cheaper cars. The President's healthcare deregulation will also save patients nearly 10 percent on prescription drug costs.
These real wins for the American people will disappear with a re-regulation agenda, which is why President Trump will continue to pursue his historic deregulatory activity.
On another note: We saw encouraging news yesterday on vaccines. Moderna's vaccine candidate is showing promising signs. They produced a positive, neutral immune response among the 45 participants in the study. This is comparable to what we see in recovered patients. And the bottom line is that, so far, we are seeing exactly what you would hope to see in a vaccine. They're expected — the Moderna vaccine in particular is expected to reach phase three by late July, with 30,000 participants
And finally, on the therapeutics front, I just want to note: A very encouraging Regeneron contract. A $450 million contract for a monoclonal antibody cocktail. This is a bioengineered version of convalescent plasma, one of the several therapeutics available to treat COVID. It can be used for prophylaxis and treatment. And they say they could have up to 70 to 300 thousand doses — vials of this by the end of the summer or early fall.
So Operation Warp Speed continues. We continue to see encouraging news on the therapeutics front. And with that, I will take your questions.
Geoff.
Q: Thank you, Kayleigh. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said today that President Trump has left states to fend for themselves during this pandemic. He accused the President of not listening to medical experts. That is quite a takedown coming from a Republican governor.
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, it's really striking, his comments, especially when you compare them to his past comments. This is revisionist history by Governor Hogan, and it stands in stark contrast to what he said on March 19th, where he praised the great communication that the President has had with governors. On March 19th, he also said, "Thank you. There's been tremendous cooperation."
And what is so striking to me about reading that op-ed is Governor Hogan begins with this dramatic April 18th scene where South Korea delivered tests, but just the day prior, he said something entirely different. He, in fact, thanked the President for the progress we've seen in federal and state coordination in recent weeks, and went on to praise testing capabilities, he said, with regard to some of the top needs of states, including ventilators and texting capabilities. So 24 hours before this dramatic opening scene of his op-ed, he literally was praising the President of the United States for delivering on testing.
Q: And how do you explain that President Trump is trailing his opponent by double digits both nationally and in battleground states, with majorities disapproving of his handling of race relations and the coronavirus response?
MS. MCENANY: So that would be a question for the campaign when it comes to campaign polling. But what I would say is we believe this President has great approval in this country. His historic COVID response speaks for itself with delivering on ventilators and testing, leading the world in the amount of testing we've provided; therapeutics; the 13 vaccine candidates — the Moderna example that I pointed out to you. This President's response has been historic, and we believe his support in this country reflects that.
But with pertaining to battleground polling or campaign-related polling, I'd refer you there.
Yes.
Q: Kayleigh, we've seen the President hold a range of public events this week, but none of those events have been focused on the coronavirus. Why not?
MS. MCENANY: The President is routinely focused on the coronavirus. I think you'll be hearing more about what we're doing in the coming week. He's hard at work. We talk about COVID every day from this podium. The task force is hard at work.
And I'm glad you ask about COVID, in particular, because I just want to read through some of the things that we are doing, which I think is — most important than what we're saying is what we're doing.
And the White House has engaged in travel. Dr. Birx went to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. I spoke with Dr. Birx this morning. She's in Georgia today, heading to South Carolina tomorrow. HHS has deployed 19 teams across the country. We identify not where we see embers, but pre that. We identify where we might see an emergence, and we send teams there to address it in advance. So we're proactive.
Dr. Birx routinely sends real-time data to governors. She gives them governors reports on remdesivir. We've surged it to Texas, Florida, California, Arizona. Sixty-five thousand vials went to these four states. And we're also surging testing sites. So we're doing stuff each and every day.
Q: But, Kayleigh, surely you would agree this is the biggest challenge facing the public right now. Why aren't we seeing it as the President's biggest public priority?
MS. MCENANY: The President is focusing on a lot. Look, the President, just yesterday, held a big press conference, if you will, or an avail in the Opal [sic] — Oval Office about MS-13. COVID is something that we're focused on. It is a top priority of this administration. It's why the task force meets. It's why I had mentioned to you we're taking all those steps.
But there are other things the President has to focus on: namely, Democrat cities not controlling their streets; namely, the mayor of Chicago — people dying in her — in her — on the streets of her city every weekend. And the President sent her a letter saying, "You must secure your city."
The President is involved in Operation LeGend, in honor of LeGend Taliferro, a young man who lost his life; sending federal assistance to St. Louis, a city that has asked for help, and he's shown up. The President is focused on MS-13, who tragically maimed and killed those two young little girls, and he's held their killer accountable — the leader of that ring.
So the President is focused on COVID. It's a top priority. He is focused on the violence in the streets. He's doing a lot of things at once, and that's the great thing about the Trump administration.
Yes.
Q: But just quickly, when is the last time he attended a task force briefing?
MS. MCENANY: The President is briefed on coronavirus each and every day.
Yes, Darlene.
Q: Thank you. Does the White House agree that it's not helpful for people to wait seven days or longer to get the results of their coronavirus test? And is the White House going to do anything to try to shorten those wait times so that people can get their results sooner?
MS. MCENANY: So we've done more than any country in the world on testing; there's no doubt about that — 42 million tests. The country with the next highest number is India at 12 million.
There are various different types of tests in this country; some take longer to process than others. But we have surged testing to the states, and we encourage them to use it to their best ability and to process those tests as quickly as possible.
...
Read the full transcript HERE.
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