McEnany Pummels New York Times Over Anti-Trump 'Fabricated Russia Hoax'
White House press secretary slams left-wing newspaper over 'Russian bounties' report
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White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany pummeled the New York Times over a recent anti-Trump report that Russia paid bounties to the Taliban to target and kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
During a press conference on Monday, McEnany blasted the NYT for its “absolutely irresponsible decision to falsely report that he [President Trump] was briefed on something that he, in fact, was not briefed on.”
On Friday, the left-wing newspaper reported that Russia secretly gave bounties to “Taliban-linked militants” to target and kill American soldiers.
Quoting anonymous officials, The Times claimed, without evidence, that the president was briefed on what Russia was doing but didn't take action to stop it.
“The intelligence finding was briefed to President Trump, and the White House’s National Security Council discussed the problem at an interagency meeting in late March,” The Times reported.
“The White House has yet to authorize any step, the officials said,” the report adds.
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Critics of President Donald Trump pounced on the report to criticize him for either not knowing about the Russian scheme, or not doing anything about it.
The president addressed the controversy in a tweet on Sunday and denied the allegations.
"Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP," the president tweeted.
"Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News @nytimesbooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad!!!"
Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or @VP. Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe by the Fake News @nytimesbooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad!!! https://t.co/cowOmP7T1S
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2020
When McEnany was asked to address the issue on Monday, she attacked the New York Times on previous errors they had made in reporting.
"The president is briefed on verified intelligence, and again I would just point you back to the absolutely irresponsible decision of the New York Times to falsely report that he was briefed on something that he, in fact, was not briefed on," said McEnany.
"And I really think that it's time for the New York Times to step back and ask themselves why they've been wrong, so wrong, so often," she added.
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McEnany went into a long list of corrections the New York Times had to make on numerous articles and columns.
"It is inexcusable, the failed Russian reporting of the New York Times, and I think it's time that the New York Times and also the Washington Post hand back their Pulitzers," she concluded before walking away.
WATCH:
Russia has denied the report, and so has the Taliban.
