It is "preposterous" for Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler to blame President Donald Trump for the 90 days of violence in his community, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday.
"What is responsible for the violence is this deeply irresponsible defund the police movement," McEnany said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "What we've seen with defund the police is when you literally get rid of police officers, there is an uptick in violence."
Instead, Wheeler is responsible, McEnany maintained.
"He's not charging individuals," said McEnany, but the Department of Justice has charged 74 people with federal crimes.
"We're doing all we can, but until he accepts our help, there's a limit to what we can do," she added.
Meanwhile, McEnany defended Trump's decision to travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday after the violence there in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake.
"This president is out and about reopening the country, demonstrating his respect for the American people by actually going to places where Americans are hurting," said McEnany. "He'll always show up. That's what this president has done for four years and he'll continue to do."
Federal intervention has already helped quell some of the violence in Kenosha, she added, as it did in Minneapolis.
However, she said the White House has not yet been able to connect with Blake's family, who have already spoken with Democrat nominee Joe Biden.
"The plan is so far to go and to meet with law enforcement, to look at some of the damage from the riots but we are holding his family close to our heart," said McEnany.
She also commented that attacks on Sen. Rand Paul and others as they left Trump's acceptance speech last Thursday are "unacceptable" and said it's known many such efforts are "organized."
"Now we have video evidence to prove what we've been saying all along while Democrats sat silent," McEnany said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.