The White House press secretary claims that the media isn't reporting on violence against Trump supporters. She's wrong.
White House press secretary and occasional Donald Trump campaign spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany on Tuesday slammed the media for not reporting on alleged acts of violence committed against Trump supporters during so-called "stop the steal" election protests in Washington D.C.
The problem? Media outlets had already covered the clashes at length.
Tweeting a link to a Breitbart News story about reporters' recent questions for President-elect Joe Biden, McEnany condemned what she claimed was "journalistic malpractice."
"The breathtaking journalistic malpractice when it comes to Joe Biden is SHAMEFUL," she wrote alongside the article. "'Reporters' asked 12 questions and not a SINGLE one about the violent leftists who attacked @realDonaldTrump supporters over the weekend!"
On Monday, she tweeted a link to another Breitbart story about "Antifa" supposedly accosting women, children, and elderly individuals at the pro-Trump rallies on Saturday.
"The violent Left assaulted innocent @realDonald Trump supporters after the Million MAGA march," McEnany wrote on the social media platform. "They threw unknown liquids & launched fireworks at supporters, physically attacked several rally goers, and accosted children and seniors. UNACCEPTABLE!"
McEnany's claims are riddled with misinformation.
Numerous major news outlets including NBC News and the Washington Post did in fact cover the conflicts between protesters and counterprotesters at length. In most cases, the identities of the perpetrators were unclear.
A local NBC outlet reported that, in the evening hours after Saturday's pro-Trump march, at least 20 protesters and counterprotesters were arrested following clashes and one person was stabbed.
The outlet noted that authorities had not yet released the identity of the suspected stabber.
NBC reporter Shomari Stone tweeted video in which protesters and counterprotesters could be seen shoving and flinging insults at each other.
The Metropolitan Police Department told NBC that arrests after the march included suspected firearms violations, simple assault, acting in a disorderly manner, protesting without a permit, and assaulting a police officer.
However, they could not identify to the outlet which arrests were for pro-Trump protesters and which were for anti-Trump counterprotesters.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's office did confirm to the outlet that seven firearms were confiscated during the violence.
A Washington Post story covering the evening's chaos also openly acknowledged that violence seemed to have been instigated by both pro- and anti-Trump factions, though the specific identities and motives of those arrested remains unknown.
"On both sides, people were bloodied, and at least 20 were arrested," the outlet reported.
The outlet reported that anti-Trump counterprotesters set MAGA hats and flags on fire and set off illegal fireworks. Counterprotesters are also alleged to have knocked over displays of pro-Trump regalia sold by various vendors.
The outlet similarly noted violence by pro-Trump individuals, including one Trump supporter attempting to impale a counterprotester with a Trump flag.
McEnany's claims appear to hinge on the accuracy — or lack thereof — of right-wing media reports.
Fox-News' reporting of Saturday's events, alleging widespread violence toward Trump supporters, seems largely based on videos posted to Twitter by various individuals.
McEnany also lied about the number of people at the weekend march, falsely claiming that more than 1 million Trump supporters had attended the event.
PolitiFact has since fact-checked that account, noting that only about 135,000 people can fit within Freedom Plaza, the area depicted in McEnany's photo.
Fox News, meanwhile, reported "tens of thousands" of attendees.
McEnany has also tweeted various false claims of election fraud in recent days, the impetus for the chaotic rally and a popular conspiracy pushed by Trump himself.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
