McEnany Claims Trump 'Never Downplayed' Coronavirus Threat

WASHINGTON, DC — White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said President Donald Trump "never downplayed" the threat of the coronavirus and that he's never lied to the American people about the virus either in her Wednesday afternoon news briefing at the White House.

"This president never downplayed the virus," McEnany told reporters. "The president has never lied to the public about Covid."

The assertion appears to conflict with Trump's own recorded interview with investigative journalist Bob Woodward of the Washington Post.

In the March interview, Trump can be heard stating: “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down because I don't want to cause a panic."

McEnany's appearance came on the heels of Trump's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize by a right-wing Norweigan lawmaker. Christian Tybring-Gjedde nominated Trump for his efforts in the Middle East.

Trump "addresses old challenges with new solutions and delivers results for the American people," McEnany said.

She pointed to a statistic claiming Trump has broken a 39-year streak of American presidents either starting a war or bringing the United States into an international armed conflict.

But she did not answer how that could be, as Trump has sent American troops into Saudi Arabia.

McEnany was grilled by reporters over the president's handling of the coronavirus and his recorded comments in the Woodward interview.

Questioned on why Trump agreed to the interview, McEnany said it is because "he's the most transparent president in history."

She again praised his handling of the virus, citing the U.S. case fatality rate as among the world's lowest at 3 percent.

The United States does lead the world in both coronavirus case counts and deaths, data from Johns Hopkins University shows.

As of 2 p.m., Trump does not have a scheduled public appearance for the day. He was in Florida and North Carolina Tuesday campaigning for re-election.

Watch a replay of the Wednesday briefing below.