President Donald Trump is being clear that he wants to see the Republican National Convention happen in North Carolina in August, but he also wants to be sure that Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper is not putting restrictions in place to keep that from happening, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Tuesday.
"The president was very clear in his tweets he wants to see this convention happen," McEnany said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "He wants to guarantee that in fact it will from the state of North Carolina."
But Trump also wants to "share that politics is not in play," and to be sure that "extraneous restrictions" don't block a full convention, McEnany said.
Reopening is also vital for churches, McEnany said, adding that she was happy to see churches safely reopening this past weekend.
However, she denied she was questioning the religious beliefs of members of the media when she told reporters at a press briefing that it was "interesting to be in a room that desperately wants to seem to see these churches and houses of worship stay closed" after reporters told her Trump had no legal authority to override the authority of governors and reopen religious buildings amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"Many of our journalists are great men and women of faith and differing faiths whether it be Jewish, Christian, the Muslim faith," said McEnany. "I was asked 11 questions as to why churches be allowed to reopen."
She added that she's never been asked why a liquor store was essential "so I was merely pointing that out and to the point about questioning the journalists asking why they aren't asking certain questions. I field hundreds of questions a day. Journalists are not above being questioned themselves."
Fox News host Chris Wallace slammed McEnany Sunday for her telling reporters they should have been asking about former President Barack Obama and other matters.
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.
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