White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham bashed a Vanity Fair reporter for claims that el presidente was paranoid about the media trying to infect him with coronavirus.
This is 100% fake news. @gabrielsherman did not reach out to me. False & sensational writing on this topic is irresponsible. POTUS has spent plenty of time w the press pool - simply ask ur colleagues. Nothing about your little college essay is funny or true & I want a retraction. https://t.co/tWEOuJw9Bm
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) March 9, 2020
Here’s part of the report she says is false:
Stories about Trump’s coronavirus fears have spread through the White House. Last week Trump told aides he’s afraid journalists will try to purposefully contract coronavirus to give it to him on Air Force One, a person close to the administration told me. The source also said Trump has asked the Secret Service to set up a screening program and bar anyone who has a cough from the White House grounds. “He’s definitely melting down over this,” the source said.
But thus far Trump’s private concerns haven’t affected his public response. Pressure from the public health community is mounting on Trump to cancel his mass rallies, but Trump is pushing back. “He is going to resist until the very last minute,” a former West Wing official said. “He may take suggestions to stop shaking hands, but in terms of shutting stuff down, his position is: ‘No, I’m not going to do it.’”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Notice she claims they didn’t ask for a comment – seems like that could be pretty easy for them to prove if they did ask for a comment via email or something…
There’s also a report that he “stormed off” from his media briefing today after a report asked him if he was tested for coronavirus, but that was a pretty spurious claim.
Statement from @PressSec: “The President has not received COVID-19 testing because he has neither had prolonged close contact with any known confirmed COVID-19 patients, nor does he have any symptoms pic.twitter.com/fdvfZr8oUw
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) March 10, 2020
Her statement made it clear that he was following proper protocol in not being tested yet…