Apr 7, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Introducing White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany

Kayleigh McEnany. Photo: Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Kayleigh McEnany took over as White House press secretary Tuesday, shifting from Trump 2020 campaign spokesperson to the West Wing.

Why it matters: McEnany is the fourth press secretary thus far in the Trump presidency. She enters the role after doing outreach with supporters on the campaign trail and serving as one of the re-election effort's most visible surrogates. Her new role begins at an increasingly public-facing time for the administration, as daily press briefings have been reinstalled to update Americans on the threat of the coronavirus.

The state of play: McEnany is newly named White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows' first major staffing change.

Previous press secretaries include Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Stephanie Grisham.

Background: McEnany, 31, is a Florida native and Harvard Law School graduate. She was appointed national spokesperson for the Republican National Committee in 2017, then switched roles to national press secretary for Trump's re-election campaign in 2019.

She's also a former CNN contributor, often found promoting Trump and the administration on the network.
She's appeared more than 200 times on Fox News weekday programming since August 2017.
She also published a book in 2018 titled "The New American Revolution: The Making of a Populist Movement."

Between the lines: McEnany's defense of the president has — at times — been met with backlash.

In February, she said on Fox Business: "We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here, we will not see terrorism come here, and isn’t that refreshing when contrasting it with the awful presidency of President Obama?"

Reality check: The coronavirus has since infected more than 386,000 Americans.

She clashed on-air with CNN anchor Chris Cuomo last August when asked if the president had "ever lied to the American people." McEnany retorted: "Guess who lies? The press lies."

Cuomo stopped mid-interview, saying: "Interview's over."

And she hasn't been shy about lambasting Democrats, saying the party has "nothing to offer" in 2020 on Fox News.

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Axios

Updated 4 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 1:30 a.m. ET: 19,861,683 — Total deaths: 731,326 — Total recoveries — 12,115,825 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 1:30 a.m. ET: 5,044,864 — Total deaths: 162,938 — Total recoveries: 1,656,864 — Total tests: 61,792,571 — Map.
Politics: Pelosi says states don't have the funds to comply with Trump's executive order on unemployment — Mnuchin says Trump executive orders were cleared by Justice Department.
States: New York reports lowest rate of positive coronavirus test results since pandemic began
Public health: Ex-FDA head: U.S. will "definitely" see 200,000 to 300,000 virus deaths by end of 2020.
Schools: 97,000 children test positive for coronavirus in two weeks — Nine test positive at Georgia school where photo showing packed hallway went viral .

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Rebecca Falconer

2 hours ago - Health

97,000 children test positive for coronavirus in two weeks

A boy has his temperature checked as he receives a free COVID-19 test in South Los Angeles in July. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

At least 97,000 children tested positive for COVID-19 in the final two weeks of July and there's been an estimated 338,000 cases involving kids in the U.S. since the pandemic began, a new report finds.

Why it matters: The findings in the report by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association comes as schools and day cares look to reopen in the U.S., with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announcing Friday that school districts in the state can reopen in the fall amid lower coronavirus transmission rates.

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Rebecca Falconer

Updated 3 hours ago - World

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrested under national security law

Media tycoon Jimmy Lai at the Next Digital offices in Hong Kong in June. Photo: Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai has been arrested for "collusion with foreign powers" and the offices of his newspaper raided, said Mark Simon, an executive at the tycoon's media firm Next Digital on Monday.

Why it matters: He was arrested under the new national security law that gives Beijing more powers over the former British colony. Lai is the most prominent person arrested under the law, which prompted the U.S. to sanction Chinese officials, including Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, over Beijing's efforts to strip the territory of its autonomy.