White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany will be holding a press briefing today at 12:00pm ET from the Brady room. [Livestream Links Below] – Video Added
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[Transcript] MS. MCENANY: Good afternoon, everyone. The beginning of the end of the pandemic started with the leadership of President Trump. In recent days, Pfizer and Moderna reported the highly successful results of their vaccine development, each achieving a COVID vaccine that is over 90 percent effective. We know Moderna is 94.5 percent effective; Pfizer 95 percent. That is extraordinary.
In July, the Trump administration, as part of Operation Warp Speed, agreed to provide Pfizer with $1.95 billion to manufacture and distribute their COVID vaccine, allowing this vaccine to be provided free for the American people.
While Democrats were pursuing a highly divisive and entirely baseless impeachment endeavor, as far back as January 13th, this President, the Trump administration, and the National Institute of Health was partnering with Moderna and working on this vaccine for the American people.
But that’s not all: This administration has remained engaged on the development and distribution of a safe and effective vaccine throughout the year. It began in January and continued thereafter.
On May 15th, Operation Warp Speed was launched. On September 16th, we released two documents outlining a strategy to deliver a safe and effective vaccine. These documents were the strategic — strategic distribution overview in the Interim Playbook for state, tribal, territorial, and local health programs and partners.
On September 23rd, we provided $200 million to jurisdictions to support plans for eventual distribution.
On October 14th, we provided $31 million to Cytiva for vaccine-related consumable products.
On October 16th, we made agreements with CVS and Walgreens to administer vaccines to residents of long-term care facilities.
On October 21st, under the PREP Act, we issued guidance authorizing qualified pharmacy technicians to administer the vaccine.
On October 30th, we announced that McKesson Corporation will produce, store, and distribute vaccine ancillary supply kits on behalf of the Strategic National Stockpile to help healthcare workers who will administer the vaccines.
And on November 12th, we announced the partnership with large chain pharmacies and independent regional ones to deliver safe and effective vaccines.
The unprecedented response to this pandemic has already saved many American lives. And as you can see, this timeline was ongoing. This was a long process and one that we are very proud of.
Now, with multiple safe and effective vaccines just around the corner, we urge all Americans to wash your hands, socially distance, wear a mask when you cannot do so.
And with that, I’ll take questions.
Kevin.
Q Kayleigh, thanks. I want to ask you a question that I’m asked fairly often, away from the White House. And that is: With respect to what Rudy Giuliani and the legal team on the campaign side had to say yesterday, people ask: “Let’s suggest that, yes, there is evidence of fraud, irregularities, even malicious intent with respect to vote totals. The question is, what then would be the pathway or strategy to overturn what the campaign believes is a flawed election? Are we talking about a judicial pathway? Are we talking about a legislative pathway?”
And a follow-up: How soon might Americans be able to get their hands on a COVID vaccine?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, so to your first point, I would say this: There’s been multiple pieces of litigation filed across the country by various individuals, the campaign, and others. I will leave it to the campaign to make those determinations on as to how to proceed. But the President has been very clear he wants every legal vote to be counted and to make sure no illegal votes are counted.
But with regard to a vaccine, we believe that there will be 40 million doses available by the end of the year. Again, this is extraordinary. This is the fastest vaccine in history by fivefold. It’s really extraordinary progress. You’ve heard Dr. Fauci, among others, say that. And it was only made possible because of this President, who said at the same time, “I’m pursuing a vaccine; I’m going to do something novel. I’m going to manufacture it.”
So, many American lives will be saved thanks to President Trump and the great work of Operation Warp Speed.
Q Can I follow up? One more —
MS. MCENANY: Of course.
Q Just one thing about the COVID vaccine. Is there a concern inside the White House that a lack of working with a potential or presumptive President-Elect Biden team will somehow slow down the distribution of the COVID vaccine?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, I’m glad you asked that question. It’s an important one. And not in the slightest. Because, in fact, I did hear the former Vice President say yesterday he was concerned about not being able to distribute a vaccine. He shouldn’t be. Maybe he hasn’t seen, but we have publicly available that plan that I mentioned in my opening. It’s the COVID-19 Vaccination Program, the Interim Playbook for Jurisdiction Operations. This is publicly available, if the former Vice President would like to read through it.
Beyond that, I would say that we’ve already, going back months, partnered with the 64 jurisdictions in this country to make sure that they each had individualized distribution plans. Those have been assessed. Those have been made certain that they’re — they’re good and operational.
So this work has been ongoing. There’s a distribution plan in place, which is why you heard General Perna say yesterday that, within 24 hours of getting that EUA, the emergency use authorization, we will be able to distribute this all across the country.
Q When are you going to admit you lost?
MS. MCENANY: Yes, Kevin. Yeah.
Sorry. Mario.
Q Okay. Thanks, Kayleigh. What is the President planning to discuss this afternoon with the two Michigan lawmakers? And will he ask them to have the state legislature appoint electors who will support his re-election? What’s the nature of that meeting?
MS. MCENANY: So he will be meeting later on. This is not an advocacy meeting. There will be no one from the campaign there. He routinely meets with lawmakers from all across the country.
Q When will you admit you lost the election?
Q Kayleigh, at what point does the President concede the race and allow for a proper transition to the Biden team?
MS. MCENANY: So, right now, there’s ongoing litigation. There are — what we know: 74 million Americans that voted for this President; that’s more votes than any President has gotten in history. It’s really extraordinary. And there are very real claims out there that the campaign is pursuing — 234 pages of affidavits publicly available in one county alone; that’s Wayne County. And two individuals in the canvassing board there that have declined to certify.
So these are real claims. These individuals deserve to be heard. This was a system that had never been tried in American history: mass mail-out voting. It’s one that we have identified as being particularly prone to fraud. So those claims deserve to be pursued.
Tamara.
Q Yeah. Has anyone from the White House spoken with GSA — with the director of GSA about the timing of ascertaining who the next President will be? And has any pressure been applied to her?
MS. MCENANY: Absolutely not. GSA will make the determin- — determination of ascertainment at the right moment. Right now, there’s a constitutional process that’s being played out. There are questions being asked in court. But the GSA will determine when ascertainment is reached.
Q And can I just ask one other question, which is: Senator Lamar Alexander, today, has put out a statement encouraging the Trump administration, in the absence of ascertainment, to begin allowing the Biden team access — full access to everything they need for a transition, access to agencies, access to real-time data. What’s the harm in doing that?
MS. MCENANY: So there’s a Presidential Transition Act that determines exactly what an administration needs to do in advance of an election. And we have done everything statutorily required, and we will continue to do that.
Q It’s after reelection, though.
Q Thank you. I have a question. First, a follow-up on the transition. Has the President or anyone in the administration instructed officials not to engage or have conversations with members of the Biden transition team?
MS. MCENANY: No, I’ve certainly never been instructed that. I’ve never heard of an instruction to that end.
Q Okay. And my second question is about COVID. Because yesterday, a lot of what we heard from the doctors, they’ve been saying since the end of March. Back then, the projections were that 100,000 Americans would die. Now, as you know, we’ve surpassed that by two and a half times. Did the administration fail to communicate how serious this threat was to the American people? How else do you explain what went wrong?
MS. MCENANY: Look, I would say the initial projection that our doctors gave us was 2 million people that would lose their lives. And it’s a tragedy any time one life is lost. But we are far below the 2 million that this could have been.
We took very aggressive measures at the beginning of this with the China travel ban; creating the greatest testing system in the entire world; therapeutics — the fact that we have six working therapeutics right now. The fact that we continue to identify more and more. The fact that — I believe we have a chart on this — a fatality chart. It’s deaths by hundred for age and month. And as you can see, deaths have come down for every age group, and for those over 70, that line — that red line is a testament to what this President has done.
Therapeutics, monoclonal antibodies — that is a recent one — that reduces hospitalization in high-risk seniors with moderate to mild COVID by 70 percent. That’s American ingenuity rising to the occasion, and President Trump oversaw all of this.
But, of course, we are seeing cases rise. And it’s very important: wash your hands, socially distance. We’re taking this seriously.
Q Kayleigh, do you think that mixed messaging contributed to that? Because just this week, for example — yesterday, Vice President Pence wanted to make clear that they supported state and local decision making. Just two days ago, you called some of those state guidelines “Orwellian.” So how do you expect people to know what to do with all this mixed messaging?
MS. MCENANY: Well, two things can happen at once, and it’s this: taking COVID seriously, engaging in aggressive mitigation, but also recognizing that the American people have certain freedoms. And it is, by definition, Orwellian for a state like Oregon to say, “If you have more than six people in your family congregate in your home, we can jail you for 30 days.” That’s not the American way.
The American people know the CDC recommendations, know the guidelines. We’ve been talking about this for 10 months, but the American people still have certain freedoms, still have autonomy, and still can make important self-responsibility decisions themselves.
Yes, Deborah.
Q Thank you, Kayleigh. Nice to see you.
MS. MCENANY: Good to see you.
Q Last night, Tucker Carlson said that campaign attorney Sidney Powell has failed to provide evidence for her assertion about communist money in the 2020 election. And Byron York, another journalist who’s been very fair to this White House, said that it was a turning point — Rudy Giuliani and the conduct at that press conference. But Republicans were feeling that the legal maneuvers just aren’t working.
So is there — did you all have a reaction to that when you saw that and wrote about it?
MS. MCENANY: Again, that would be a question for the campaign. We at the White House are aggressively working on COVID, winding down the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, among other issues. There will be a drug-pricing announcement later in the afternoon as well.
Q Well, Kayleigh —
MS. MCENANY: Yes.
Q — since I’m the pooler, can I ask a question for Jackson Richman of the Jewish News Syndicate, who couldn’t be here —
MS. MCENANY: Yes.
Q — because of social distancing?
And his question is about Jonathan Pollard. His parole conditions are set to expire tomorrow. Is the President willing to commute his parole conditions or pardon him if the DOJ extends Pollard’s parole? Have you been getting any calls from the Jewish and pro-Israel community to take action on his case?
MS. MCENANY: I haven’t heard about that. I haven’t looked into the particular case. But on if he shoots me an email, we’ll take a look at his question.
Q Thank you.
MS. MCENANY: Yes.
Q So, back to the topic of concession. Like we said earlier, is there something that the President needs to see before making that call? Is it the end of these lawsuits, whenever they do wrap up, all of them? States certifying results for different counties? Or December 14th when the Electoral College casts its ballots?
MS. MCENANY: Look, the President, again, is pursuing ongoing litigation and taking it day by day, and we’ll wait for that litigation to play out.
Q So just to clarify, it’s the end of that litigation that we would need to see before getting a call —
MS. MCENANY: There’s an entire constitutional process of electors casting their ballots, and I will leave that to the President.
Yes. Chanel.
Q Thank you, Kayleigh. Contrary to the court of media opinion, there is real-time data showing vast irregularities in the voting system that we have watched over the last few weeks. I asked this question of the campaign and I ask this of it now, the White House: Where is our FBI in this entire scheme? Are they looking at any of the evidence that this White House or the campaign have presented in terms of real-time data evidence of voter irregularity? Where is the FBI?
MS. MCENANY: Yeah, you know, I would refer you to the FBI on that — to the DOJ on that. There’s —
Q Has the President spoken with the FBI in the last three weeks?
MS. MCENANY: Not that I’m aware of. But, look, I would say that there are real questions on mass mail-out voting. We have put those questions forward, and we’ve said this for the better part of a year. There was a bipartisan commission that talked about and identified the real potential for fraud with mass mail-in voting.
Also something that I would note is just we talked a lot about transfer of power in the election, and it’s worth remembering that this President was never given an orderly transition of power. His presidency was never accepted. In fact, before the election — his election, we know Crossfire Hurricane was launched by Peter Strzok to pursue baseless allegations about the President’s ties with Russia. That’s before he was President, trying to subvert the will of the American people.
We know, in August, Peter Strzok wrote a text message about an insurance policy against a Trump presidency, once again trying to silence the voice of the American people.
In 2016 — we know in October that there was a FISA warrant — a FISA warrant taken out to spy on the Trump campaign. And then the American people spoke, and they spoke commandingly in electing President Trump despite all of the odds.
And what happened after he was elected? You had 70 lawmakers say “we’re not coming” to his inauguration — Democratic lawmakers. You had Elizabeth Warren saying “we’re going to attempt to obstruct” the Trump transition by urging the Government Accountability Office to investigate the incoming Trump transition.
In January of that year, you had President Obama have a by- the-book meeting where they talked about the Logan Act, using that act to go after Lieutenant General Michael Flynn.
Just before the inauguration, you had BuzzFeed promoting and publishing this bogus Steele dossier that’s been widely debunked.
And then, for two years, you had the baseless Mueller investigation, which searched for collusion, found none, and exonerated President Trump.
While, in 2016, President Trump became the duly elected President, many sought to undermine him, discredit him, delegitimize him, and deny his victory. There were no calls for unity; there were no calls for healing.
So while every legal vote is counted, let us not forget the inexcusable transition, or lack thereof, that President Trump had to endure in 2016 and four years into his presidency.
Thank you, everyone, for the very good and substantive questions today.
Q Kayleigh, why can’t you call on all of us? You haven’t taken questions —
MS. MCENANY: I don’t call on activists.
The YouTube ID of 5F1-w5TmLQU?start=592 is invalid..
White House Livestream – Alternate NBC Livestream – Alternate Livestream 2
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So according to Lin Wood…
a Shredding and Recycling truck is at Cobb Co Ga Election Office today
Are they destroying evidence?
Of course they are. That is the seat of the Ossoff election for the House – this is an enormous red flag.
Can’t wait to hear the explanation for the shredding.
Book ’em Danno. Oh, yeah, just 60s TV hopium…
Shredded ballots tell no tales.
Did he get video?
Actually 2 Women Warriors did
They filmed it called Police but no cop came
Here:
“ Lin Wood
@LLinWood
·
5h
Looks to me like they may be destroying election documents in Cobb County, GA.
What do you think?
#FightBack Against Election Crimes”
https://twitter.com/LLinWood/status/1329883971040243713?s=20
“Lin Wood
@LLinWood
·
7h
What election/materials are in these bins being picked up at the election office at Jim R. Miller Park this morning by A1 Shredding & Recycling?
Absentee ballot envelopes???
Cobb County, GA Patriots must DEMAND answers NOW.
#FightBack“
https://twitter.com/LLinWood/status/1329853929086193666?s=20
Well if they are destroying ballots it’s s federal crime and yes they are destroying their fake ballots.
Why have the FBI & DOJ facilitated this?
There is no more shrugging shoulders: Oopsie we accidentally broke the law! Oopsie we wiped the phones! Oopsie we accidentally filled illegal FISA warrants 85% of the time, Oopsie yes that a violation of your civil liberty. Oopsie Hilary wiped her 35,000 emails with a cloth, (the most ridiculous poorly delivered line in the history of politics) actually worse than her soulmate when he claimed’ it depends on what the definition of “it”is.’
I’ve been showing up at my State Capital, it’s not enough I want to do more. We are past phone call and petitions.
Kayleigh is the consummate professional facing a crowd of babbling children; if they are this bad now, just wait until the cases start running through the courts.
While there are no guarantees, the courts should rule in Trump’s favor, at the very least voiding enough electoral votes to have the election turn into a contingent election in the House. Then Kayleigh will really have her hands full with a daily press meltdown.
I am happy, that we have now Kayleigh speaking for the Trump administration instead of Huk’s daughter
True.
Sarah is great.
Kayleigh is better than any Secretary I could think of to handle the rabid idiot mob.
Here’s another election fraud witness who is not afraid to step into the limelight. He’s originally from Venezuela so he is used to deepState media intimidation. Been a Michigan resident for 20 years.
Not surprised in the slightest that they would do everything possible to prevent being observed.
Thank you D_V.
Thank you Jose.
God bless
I canceled my long time subscription to the WSJ today. I explained how the paper had become untrustworthy. I pointed out that there were far more reputable news sources online that are doing actual journalism and reporting on real news not simply parroting what everyone else is saying. For free.
The response was classic. “Well, I must tell you that beginning in December the newsroom will be returning to unbiased reporting.” I asked, “Why did it ever stop?”
I can’t tell you what to do, and I probably held on to the subscription too long because I have had it for so many years, but it’s time for everyone to walk away from the media. He told me half of his calls this week have been cancellations for the same reason. Hoping all of America is waking up.
Well, I must tell you that beginning in December the newsroom will be returning to unbiased reporting.
INCREDIBLE!!!
I also have been a long-time reader, not because of the business sections, as I am a teacher, but simply because they had been fairly trustworthy, and their non-business articles on History and Culture were usually fairly interesting. But as soon as I saw their post-election “President-elect Biden” stuff, I thought it was time to say good-bye after 30 years or so.
They’ve been bad long before the recent election IMO. Just more subtle than most MSM, and some conservative opinion pieces as cover for their news coverage.
“Well, I must tell you that beginning in December the newsroom will be returning to unbiased reporting.” I asked, “Why did it ever stop?”
It stopped because they had to abandon impartiality in order to fight Orange Man Bad
In other words – to become partisan participants, a wholly owned and operated propaganda arm of the Democrat Party …
… rather than journalists
?
My husband canceled his subscription and called and told them they were no good. He used to work in the floor of the NYSE before the computer age took over, ehrn the floor was a beehive, and he has read that paper for 40 years. Their silence on the Hunter laptop story was his final straw.
They will never be unbiased.They are fooling themselves.
I notified them last week that I was cancelling, too. Mine is paid up through the end of January and they won’t refund, but that is okay as I need some paper for lighting fire pit fires. I told them the same thing. Their news division and reporting is horribly biased, and it was no longer worth the coin just to get Kimberly Strassel’s op Ed’s. They tried to give me some free months but I told them to forget it. I’ve been a subscriber for more than 20 years. When he asked for an example of bias, I told him their news reporting had not mentioned any of the Hunter Biden and his dad’s issues with Ukraine leading up to the election. Also no objective reporting on the election fraud issues being disclosed.
Thank you for that. I went to WSJ on line only since the papers were simply going into the recycling bin 90% unread. WSJ used to be a well balanced paper with mostly real journalism. They have just become a CNN with better vocabulary. Although I haven’t canceled quite yet, after over 40 years as a subscriber I will likely end our subscription.
I dropped my WSJ subscription about 6 months after News Corp bought the paper from the Bancroft family (60% shares, so de facto owners). That was in 2007.
It only took a few months for the paper to start drifting to the left. No hard left turn, mind you, but it was obvious where the paper was headed, and it was lefty enough by the time my subscription was up that I didn’t renew.
About when I canceled mine as well,
same here
2016, post election, when I discovered I genuinely knew more than they did.
The news reporters are true believers, Ellis. Even at the Wall Street Journal. They will not relent, and it’s gone on for a long time.
There was a paper called the Toronto Telegram, 50 years ago. The owner was named John Bassett. The staff went on strike. Bassett told them the paper was losing money, and he also owned the local TV station, where he made money. Bassett told them he would do the obvious, and shut down the paper, it they didn’t listen to reason. The union’s response? Bassett should use his profits from the TV station, to keep the paper going.
The survivors of the dead Telegram started the Toronto Sun, a fiercely conservative, anti-union paper (for a while).
true believers and fellow travelers on the long march thru the institutions of our nation
Because “biased” reporting has an expiration date? They had to decide on a date?!
yes
the date is when they perceive that they have gotten rid of President Trump
I canceled on line yesterday after I read ugly Peggy Noonan’s opinion trash. They better respect that cancellation.
I’m sorry but WHY are we expecting the same institutions that allowed this to happen to fix this…..???? Ain’t going happen, don’t get me wrong i pray everyday that it will but i just don’t see it… The communist have been infiltrating our institutions for decades and apparently they have enough in place to complete a non violent coup… Trump should continue the fight and i hope it ends well but in the end if he does lose he should definitely do as sundance suggested and start his own political party… That would the GOP and that’s a step in the right direction..
“I don’t call upon activists!” Well done Kayleigh!
That was sweet of her to do that! I think it left a bruise.
In today’s press briefing Kayliegh McEnany, replying to a question thrown at her at the last minute, said she doesn’t respond to activists.
Here is a great example of what she means, these seem to be activists pretending to be press people, not unlike what we’ve seen in the antifa crowd, people with press in big letters on their t-shirts, pretending to be press to get close:
(Michigan politician traveling to the WH for a meeting today):
Wow !
This should be a wake up call for Senator Shirkey.
The heckler’s veto at work. They know there is fraud. This is proof. So now they’re well into the “threaten and intimidate” phase of the operation.
I’ve said for 2 weeks that the quickest, sweetest, revenge against Whitmer in MI and Wolf in PA is to vote that the electors go to Pres. Trump due to rampant fraud during the election.
I’m guessing what I am about to say will not be looked upon with approval…but I don’t care. I hope one of these 20-something white men/women SJW’S get in my face and start yelling because I am itching to knock one out cold. And I will do the time in jail. That’s how much I hate these people
GH, don’t tell anyone but I say that all the time. The grandkids say they’ll laugh at any fool who tries it.
GLenn Beck encore show starting on Blaze tv (via Pluto tv app for me).
Sidney Powell is coming up.
I caught the tail end this morning and was impressed with the respect and attention he showed to Sidney.
Also, the lack of interruptions was very refreshing!
So much crying on here.
Remember to donate Sidney Powell Defend the Republic website.
thanks for the link… happy to donate
The mainstream media is so blinded by their hatred of Trump and/or the payoffs they are receiving that they don’t see the credibility trap right in front of them. My suspicion is that they are being given every opportunity to do their job to save what little credibility they could salvage and they are still choosing not to do their job. When the evidence is finally released, even the most loyal progressive voter is not going to be able to refute the evidence and will finally recognize the propaganda they have been fed by the mainstream media for decades.
I’m not sure if Trump had a little help in 2012 but he Tweeted about the voting machine fraud back then. I suspect and hope the past four years have been about preparing for this election to expose the ruling elites corruption.
@ed bernay
Yep. Trump sure did tweet about 2012 Election being shady.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/265905510115590144?s=20
Make no mistake about it, true they hate Trump, but they hate us more, he’s just in the way.
Statement made by Talk radio host Eric Erickson, I wont vote in Senate election in Georgia, until voting procedures are changed. I think Erickson is Deep State.
I wont waste my time standing in line for my vote to be disenfranchised. 5,000 votes not initially counted in Georgia is more than a mistake. It is probable that thousands of more votes out there were not discovered to be counted.
I don’t know if he is Deep State, but I don’t trust him. I used to frequent RedState before he went anti-Trump, and I don’t trust his recent Schleprock articles and broadcasts regarding the election fraud. He belongs in a box with Shapiro.
He’s a Bush b88888
Whenever see or hear one or more of these MSM Whores of the CCP know what you are seeing and hearing. They are not journalists. They are not reporters. They are not investigators. They are actors and actresses. They are propagandists for the DNC. That’s all they are.
There is NO safe or effective vaccine > “WuFlu@WarpSpeed” > “Right To Try Voodoo”
I like Kayleigh. Though I do feel bad for her.
It’s like she’s having to potty train a pack of wild Hyenas every single day.
Flip these 3 states with the most egregious election fraud Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia . That would turn the Electoral College back to Donald Trump 284 -254.
STOP the STEAL
All roads lead to ROME.
All avenues lead to Donald Trump’s reelection. He’s got a few different choices. There’s the courts, Supreme court, and the house of representatives vote (1 per state).
With each passing day Biden’s dementia progresses and he becomes less relevant.
TRUMP WILL NEVER CONCEDE AND NEITHER WILL WE.