Last week, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany’s comments about science and opening schools had Dems and the media (pardon the redundancy) either misquoting or selectively quoting the remarks.
This is what McEnany said in full:
You know, the President has said unmistakably that he wants schools to open. And I was just in the Oval talking to him about that. And when he says open, he means open in full — kids being able to attend each and every day at their school.
The science should not stand in the way of this. And as Dr. Scott Atlas said — I thought this was a good quote — ‘Of course, we can [do it]. Everyone else in the…Western world, our peer nations are doing it. We are the outlier here.’
The science is very clear on this, you look at the JAMA Pediatrics study of 46 pediatric hospitals in North America that said the risk of critical illness from COVID is far less for children than that of seasonal flu.
The science is on our side here, and we encourage localities and states to just simply follow the science, open our schools. It’s very damaging to our children: There is a lack of reporting of abuse; there’s mental depressions that are not addressed; suicidal that are not addressed when students are not in school. Our schools are essential, and they must reopen.
This is what CNN’s Jim Acosta tweeted:
The White House Press Secretary on Trump’s push to reopen schools: “The science should not stand in the way of this.”
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) July 16, 2020
Acosta later had a follow-up tweet providing a little more of the quote to put it into context, but guess which one got tens of thousands more retweets than the other.
We move to Sunday, when NBC News’ “Meet the Press” went above and beyond the call of media bias in reporting what McEnany said. George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley was amazed by the level of “fake news” that was being broadcast:
Chuck Todd just played (twice) the misleading quote of White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany saying “The science should not stand in the way of this.” Todd is continuing to use this false narrative on Meet the Press despite the correction at CNN. https://t.co/423hv28VAZ
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 19, 2020
Somebody’s about to get another gift basket from the DNC:
…Todd is fully aware that the McEnany said the exact opposite of what his edited clip suggests.The quote was McEnany referring to a scientific study and, right after the line quoted, she said “The science is very clear on this” and later added “The science is on our side here.”
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 19, 2020
…Todd played this clip and then immediately interviewed Dr. Francis Collins on whether the public can trust the “watered down” and manipulated facts offered by the White House.That would be far more compelling as a criticism if you did not just play a knowingly misleading clip.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 19, 2020
This clip is days old so NBC was fully aware that it created a false image of McEnany’s statement. Yet, it was decided not to let the actual facts stand in the way of a false narrative. Todd took a statement on a scientific study and made it sound like a dismissal of all science.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 19, 2020
…Many disagree with the White House, but they still want to receive an accurate account of what is being said and done in Washington. Instead, they are given news tailored to fit a narrative. There comes a point where you are no longer informing but indoctrinating the public.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 19, 2020
We can’t say we’re surprised.
