Kayleigh McEnany hits Illinois gov over ‘ridiculous’ criticism of Trump comments on protests
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White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany responded Wednesday to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s criticism of President Trump’s support for ongoing protests against stay-at-home orders across the country, stressing that Trump “believes in the First Amendment.”
“We have a president who believes in the First Amendment, who believes in the right for people to protest,” McEnany told “Outnumbered Overtime«. “That’s a constitutional right.»
Demonstrators have rallied in states across the country this month to protest the orders that have kept Americans out of work for weeks in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus, with many arguing that the strict measures attack their constitutional freedoms and liberties.
Governors in at least 43 states have instituted quarantine restrictions that have temporarily banned large public gatherings, closed schools and shuttered most businesses.
During a White House news briefing on Tuesday Trump said, “I’ve watched some of the protests. Not in great detail, but I’ve seen that. They are separated, a lot of space in between. … They are doing social distancing, if you can believe it.”
He added, “Look, people, they want to get back to work. They’ve got to make a living. They have got to take care of the family. They don’t want to do this.”
Pritzker accused the president of fomenting violence with his rhetoric during an interview on Washington Post Live earlier Tuesday.
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“I’m very disappointed with the rhetoric and messaging coming from the president,» the Democratic governor said. «When he tweets out ‘liberate Michigan’ or ‘liberate Minnesota’ or ‘liberate Virginia,’ he’s fomenting protests and, I hate to say, that is fomenting some violence and I am very concerned about what that might mean for the country if he keeps doing things like that.»
“I think that’s a ridiculous assertion,” McEnany said in response.
She added, “I know one Democrat governor out there said, ‘Oh, I don’t care much for the Bill of Rights.’ Well, guess what? This president does.”
McEnany was referring to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s comment in an interview with “Tucker Carlson Tonight” last week.
Host Tucker Carlson drew Murphy’s attention to a widely publicized case in which 15 men were arrested for congregating at an Ocean County synagogue earlier this month, violating Murphy’s ban on large gatherings and his stay-at-home order.
«The Bill of Rights, as you well know, protects Americans’ rights — enshrines their right to practice their religion as they see fit and to congregate together to assemble peacefully,» Carlson said. «By what authority did you nullify the Bill of Rights in issuing this order? How do you have the power to do that?»
“That’s above my pay grade, Tucker,» Murphy responded. «I wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights when we did this … we looked at all the data and the science and it says people have to stay away from each other.”
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On Wednesday McEnany stressed that “there’s a way to safely articulate your opinion with social distancing and that’s what the president supports and I encourage all governors [to] believe in the Bill of Rights.»
«It’s been around for a while and it’s a pretty great document,” she added.
Fox News’ Stephen Sorace and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
