White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany accused reporters of taking Donald Trump’s words out of context when he flat out said that he wanted the confederate flags back in NASCAR.
McEnany was pressed by reporters to answer why Trump shows so much support for a flag that represents so much hatred.
“Why is the president so supportive of flying the Confederate flag?” NBC’s Peter Alexander wondered.
That’s when the press secretary accused the reporter of “mischaracterizing” Trump’s tweet.
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“I think you’re mischaracterizing the tweet,” McEnany replied. “The tweet was aimed at pointing out that the FBI report of the alleged hate crime at NASCAR concluded that the garage door pull which had been there since last fall was obviously not targeted at a specific individual because, in fact, it was a garage pull.”
Alexander pointed out that his question had been about the president’s support for the Confederate flag.
“The president never said that,” McEnany shot back. “Again, you’re taking his tweet completely out of context.”
“The president said that NASCAR saw bad ratings because they took down the Confederate flag,” Alexander observed. “Does he believe NASCAR should fly the Confederate flag and why don’t they fly it here?”
“The flag was mentioned in the broader context that he rejects that NASCAR men and women who go to these sporting events are racist,” McEnany opined. “When in fact, as it turns out, what we saw with the FBI report in the alleged incident of a hate crime, it was a complete indictment of the media’s rush to judgement.”
ABC’s Jonathan Karl also pressed McEnany to answer if Trump believes NASCAR made a mistake by banning the Confederate flag.
“He said he was not making a judgement one way or the other,” McEnany asserted. “The intent of the tweet was to stand up for the men and women of NASCAR and the fans.”
Take a look at the confrontation in the video clip below:
You can also read Trump’s tweet below. If you ask me, there is no mischaracterizing this tweet. Trump is openly showing support for the flag.
Has @BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him, only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020
