'Every word a lie': Experts destroy Trump's new White House Press Secretary for latest fibbing flop
"Soviet-style propagandizing"
President Donald Trump's brand new White House press secretary has gotten off on the same wrong foot as every one of his other press secretaries have, by lying. And now she's paying the price, with her reputation, just as Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Stephanie Grisham did.
Kayleigh McEnany, who Trump imported from his re-election campaign, struck out on Twitter Thursday with what many are declaring are complete and total lies about the President's horrific coronavirus testing record.
(Speaking of records, McEnany's is that of a racist, a birther, and a hypocrite.)
President Donald Trump likes to claim the U.S. has tested "more people" than any country in the world, but given the U.S. has the third-largest population, that's not saying much. What matters is per-capita testing – how many tests per million people. And the U.S., thanks to Trump, is doing extremely poorly – and trending worse. Which means more people are dying than would have if Trump had gotten testing right.
For the record, the United States ranks first in the world for total number of coronavirus cases (653,751), and for total number of COVID-19 deaths (33,434). (Note: numbers are constantly being updated.)
The United States, which up until the coronavirus pandemic had been rated one of the most-prepared nations to handle a pandemic, currently ranks a dismal 43rd in the world for coronavirus testing, on a per-capita basis. (On Wednesday it was 49th.)
McEnany's framing fits right in with the way every Trump administration official speaks about this President, as she shows in this series of tweets.
Under President @realDonaldTrump’s leadership we have quickly developed the most expansive and accurate testing system in the world.— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived) 1587052394
As a result, the United States has now conducted more than 3.3 million tests, FAR MORE than any other country in the world.— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived) 1587052395
Many are outraged over her falsehoods and truth-twisting.
Global health activist, epidemiologist, and Assistant Professor at Yale School of Public Health Gregg Gonsalves makes quite clear McEnany's claims are false.
@PressSec @realDonaldTrump Every word of this is a lie including "the" & "and". Instead of getting to work,… https://t.co/2flQiCnFkw— Gregg Gonsalves (@Gregg Gonsalves) 1587054463
The Nation's sports editor Dave Zirin, a highly-respected journalist, apparently agreed – but had a few more points to make:
@PressSec @realDonaldTrump You're a racist liar. WHERE ARE THE TESTS?!?!?!?— Dave Zirin (@Dave Zirin) 1587055129
Cornell Law law professor Josh Chafetz:
This is just a straight up lie. See https://t.co/7EYWhT9pyD https://t.co/mwsik2Nj7j— Josh Chafetz (@Josh Chafetz) 1587054566
The Washington Post's Greg Sargent:
This tweet from Trump's new propagandist neatly demonstrates that empty, nonsensical, insulting displays like this… https://t.co/TRjgIZdyHq— Greg Sargent (@Greg Sargent) 1587054708
Former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, former TIME managing editor, author Richard Stengel:
Contributor to The Nation Joshua Holland:
#COVID19 tests per 1,000 people: Switzerland: 23.4 Germany: 20.9 Italy: 18.9 Ireland: 18.5 Canada: 11.4 South Kore… https://t.co/yOcAZd04bv— Joshua Holland (@Joshua Holland) 1587056244
Writer at The New Yorker John Cassidy:
New WH press secretary going 1984 from the getgo. https://t.co/toHgbKH2q5— John Cassidy (@John Cassidy) 1587055759
Newsweek White House Correspondent Andrew Feinberg:
FACT CHECK: The U.S. still lags behind Germany, Italy, Australia, Denmark, and South Korea in tests per capita, whi… https://t.co/rIWcO8ixGP— Andrew Feinberg (@Andrew Feinberg) 1587053144
