Kayleigh McEnany Tears Into Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon on Riot Gaslighting, Gives Lesson on First Amendment

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
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White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany speaks during a news conference, Monday, June 8, 2020, at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
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As I noted last week, CNN has quickly emerged as quite literally the riot apologist “news” network as anchors and “journalists” from Chris Cuomo, to Don Lemon, to Anderson Cooper, to Sara Sidner have actually expressed solidarity with violent “protesters” who are looting and setting fires to businesses, and assaulting people all in the name of justice for George Floyd.

During today’s White House press briefing, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany got another question about the Lafayette Park protest-clearing controversy, this time from CBS News Radio’s Steven Portnoy, who asked two different times if President Trump was really “not sorry” for the park being cleared of protesters who were not being peaceful shortly before he prepared to walk to the historic St. John’s Episcopal church nearby, which had been set on fire by rioters just days prior.

McEnany’s answer to CNN’s Jim Acosta last week really should have put the issue to bed, but for White House press corps reporters hungry for an angle to exploit, the story goes on.

McEnany took the opportunity Portnoy presented to turn the question around on the media, condemning anchors like Cuomo and Lemon for fanning the flames and outright gaslighting viewers and readers about what was happening and what was the right way to protest:

“The president is sorry about the fact that Antifa wreaked havoc in our streets, and the failure of some members of the media to note that, like CNN’s Chris Cuomo said, ‘Show me where it says protestors are supposed to be peaceful.’ Well, I point him to the First Amendment where it is said you have the right to ‘peaceably assemble.’ He should go back and read the Constitution,” McEnany said.

“There are many others out there, Don Lemon saying that rioting is a ‘mechanism to restructure our country,’” McEnany said. “The actions of the rioters were not in keeping with the First Amendment and I think the media needs to recognize that there is a discernment between the peaceful protestors, many of whom I have seen, and the rioters.”

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McEnany also took another reporter to task for falsely claiming Trump had not addressed the nation regarding George Floyd’s senseless death and the circumstances surrounding it, a question she had also addressed during a previous briefing but still keeps being asked because narratives.

Watch video of both exchanges below, via Curtis Houck at Newsbusters:

McEnany is right on this. The media can’t incite people to riot in the name of social justice and the turn around and feign outrage when law enforcement takes steps to prevent more violence. It’s time “woke” news anchors and journalists accept responsibility for how their words are interpreted by people who are looking for any justification to wreak havoc and chaos by twisting what the First Amendment is actually about into something it isn’t.

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