HYGO News McEnany holds White House briefing: scolds media for criticizing Trump's push to keep kids in school
McEnany Holds White House Briefing: Scolds Media for Criticizing Trump’s Push to Keep Kids in School
On December 2, 2020, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany held a wide-ranging briefing that touched on three major topics: the FDA’s vaccine approval timeline, Attorney General William Barr’s comments on election fraud, and the administration’s vindication on keeping schools open. McEnany pushed back against reports that FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn had been summoned to the White House to explain vaccine delays, dismissed media characterizations of Barr’s fraud statement, and scolded reporters for criticizing Trump’s months-long push to reopen schools now that Dr. Fauci was endorsing the same position.
FDA Commissioner and Vaccine Timeline
McEnany addressed reports that FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn had been called to the White House by Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to explain delays in the Pfizer vaccine approval. She characterized the meeting as routine rather than punitive.
“What I will say about Dr. Hahn is, it is par for the course for the Chief of Staff to meet with him as we’re trying to save American lives with the vaccine in record time,” McEnany said. The exchange reflected broader tensions between the White House and the FDA over the pace of the emergency use authorization process.
Barr’s Voter Fraud Statement
When pressed about whether Trump was upset that Attorney General Barr had said the DOJ had not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud sufficient to overturn the election, McEnany redirected to a DOJ spokesperson’s clarification.
She quoted the spokesperson: “Some media outlets have incorrectly reported that the Department has concluded its investigation of election fraud and announced an affirmative finding of no fraud. That is not what the AP reported nor what the AG stated.”
McEnany suggested reporters had not read beyond Barr’s initial remarks: “I think a lot of the media didn’t read beyond that one comment: the civil part versus the criminal part.”
Schools: “The Science Was Always on Our Side”
The most pointed portion of the briefing came when McEnany highlighted Dr. Fauci’s recent endorsement of keeping schools open, a position Trump had advocated since the summer.
“Dr. Fauci now says that we should keep the schools open. He said that this Sunday. This is something the President has said for months,” McEnany said. She referenced her own briefing materials from July 16, 2020, to demonstrate that the scientific consensus had supported Trump’s position.
She cited Dr. Robert Redfield, then-CDC director, saying in July that “unlike flu, kids are not driving the transmission cycle,” and Dr. Scott Atlas, who had argued that “everyone else in the Western world — our peer nations — are doing it. We can do it.”
McEnany framed the Fauci endorsement as belated vindication: “The science was always on our side about keeping schools open way back in July. It’s being acknowledged now.”
Key Takeaways
- McEnany dismissed reports that FDA Commissioner Hahn had been summoned to explain vaccine delays, calling the meeting with Chief of Staff Meadows “par for the course” during the vaccine approval process.
- She pushed back on media characterizations of AG Barr’s voter fraud statement by citing a DOJ spokesperson’s clarification that the department had not concluded its investigation or announced “an affirmative finding of no fraud.”
- McEnany highlighted Fauci’s December endorsement of keeping schools open as vindication of Trump’s position since July, citing CDC Director Redfield and Dr. Atlas from five months earlier to argue “the science was always on our side.”