The White House has released a statement confirming that Kayleigh McEnany will replace Stephanie Grisham as press secretary, a day after Grisham’s role change was announced.
Alyssa Farah will also become the White House’s new director of strategic communications after serving as press secretary of the defense department.
Trump’s reelection campaign, where McEnany most recently worked as national press secretary, released a statement on her move. “Kayleigh McEnany is a first class professional who will serve President Trump and the American people well,” said campagin manger Brad Parscale.
But a number of critics have raised concerns about McEnany’s past comments on a number of issues, including the coronavirus pandemic. McEnany incorrectly said in February that coronavirus would not affect America because of Trump’s leadership.
“This president will always put America first. He will always protect American citizens. We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here. We will not see terrorism come here,” McEnany said on Feb. 25. “And isn’t that refreshing when contrasting it with the awful presidency of President Obama?”
The data shows 521 Latinx New Yorkers have died of the virus, as well as 428 black New Yorkers. Put together, the two groups account for 61% of New York’s coronavirus deaths, even though they account for roughly half of the city’s population.
Other major cities, including Detroit and Chicago, have also seen disproportionately higher death rates among people of color, as the Guardian’s Kenya Evelyn has reported:
Nearly 9,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the region, according to the Wasington Post, and at least 189 people have died of the virus.
Dr Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, has repeatedly named the DC region as an area of concern for the next round of hot spots.
“We are concerned about the metro area of Washington and Baltimore,” Birx said this morning.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser expressed frustration Monday about residents ignoring social distancing guidelines after photos surfaced of a crowd gathering at a local fish market, which was promptly shuttered.
“We had to close that market because the social distancing requirements were not being met,” Bowser said. “We cannot express enough that staying at home is every individual’s responsibility to save lives.”
