White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany held up the Washington Post as an example of media bias.
Following Thursday’s press briefing, McEnany shared a WaPo tweet that cut important context out of one of her comments, calling it a “case study in media bias.” (RELATED: ‘Gotta Let Me Finish, Jim, This Isn’t A Cable News Segment’: Kayleigh McEnany Chastises CNN’s Acosta For Interrupting)
Case Study in Media Bias:
I said: “The science is very clear on this…the science is on our side here. We encourage our localities & states to just simply follow the science. Open our schools.”
But leave it to the media to deceptively suggest I was making the opposite point! https://t.co/vlxk3zRsgh
— Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) July 16, 2020
The Washington Post’s tweet left out McEnany’s explanation about how the science was on the side of reopening schools, opting simply to say, “White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on school reopenings: ‘The science should not stand in the way of this.'”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on school reopenings:
“The science should not stand in the way of this.” pic.twitter.com/w6H9DM0uTV
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 16, 2020
The Washington Post was far from alone in its framing of McEnany’s comments.
The White House Press Secretary on Trump’s push to reopen schools: “The science should not stand in the way of this.”
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) July 16, 2020
From the White House podium:
“Science should not stand in the way” of reopening schools. https://t.co/pE2AN6GtyM— Weijia Jiang (@weijia) July 16, 2020
Kayleigh McEnany: “The President has said unmistakably that he wants schools to open… The science should not stand in the way of this.” pic.twitter.com/GNstim2HkW
— The Hill (@thehill) July 16, 2020
Stunning.
Jawdropping.
The White House @PressSec just called for schools to reopen, saying: “The science should not stand in the way of this.”https://t.co/AXanf2pp05 pic.twitter.com/zZ8mURlEB4— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) July 16, 2020
“The president has said unmistakably that he wants schools to open,” McEnany said. “And when he says open, he means open in full, kids been able to attend each and every day at their school. The science should not stand in the way of this.” https://t.co/LGjc51ZC6N
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) July 16, 2020
Kayleigh McEnany says that trump wants schools to open in full, and “the science should not stand in the way of this.”
They are literally trying to kill us all.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) July 16, 2020
There were a few besides McEnany who pushed back against the narrative, calling out those who had left out the context of her comment.
They’re lying to you.
Media outlets & personalities (+ other left-wingers) maliciously took a @PressSec quote out of context (full below) to fraudulently make it sound like she didn’t care about the science she went on to explain supports the move to reopen schools.
????THREAD???? pic.twitter.com/XmXCXcb3VR
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) July 16, 2020
“If we cannot trust reporters to do perform even the most basic functions of their profession, then what can we trust?” https://t.co/lBadePZjxn
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) July 17, 2020
Jim, the science is on the side of opening the schools. Please report this with honesty.
— Dr. David Samadi (@drdavidsamadi) July 16, 2020
CNN anchor Jake Tapper pushed back on guest Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who suggested that her statement may have been a misstep.
.@drsanjaygupta on WH assertion that science is on the side of opening schools pic.twitter.com/Js8EZBQ7aK
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) July 16, 2020
“First of all, I don’t think you ever want to say ‘the science should not stand in the way of this,'” Gupta said, adding that the statement came off like an “alternative facts” situation.
“Well, I think she was trying to argue — if I could just say, Sanjay,” Tapper interrupted. “I think that she was just trying to say that the science shouldn’t stand in the way because the science is on our side.”
Tapper went on to suggest that he wasn’t sure that the science was entirely on the side of reopening and cautioned that accepted science and the White House didn’t always see eye to eye, but that didn’t make McEnany’s comments necessarily outrageous.
