New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman tore into White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany for her often contorted defenses of President Donald Trump’s “racist, vile, and denigrating” rhetoric.

Appearing on CNN’s Situation Room with guest host Jim Acosta, Friedman first contrasted Trump with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and discussing his latest Times column, entitled “This Should be Biden’s Bumper Sticker.”

“I’m proposing that should be his bumper sticker: respect science, respect nature, respect each other,” Friedman said, “because I think it really touches what so many Americans want out of a current president and certainly will want out of the next president. We want someone who believes in science. And doesn’t bop around from one, crazy, quack miracle cure to another. We want someone who is ready to respect nature, respects the power of nature but also respects the next looming pandemic which could be climate change.”

“And that begins with the president not using the bully pulpit of the presidency as a platform to insult and denigrate people,” Friedman added, training his fire on Trump’s latest press secretary.

Last week, in a notable cringeworthy moment, McEnany struggled to explain away why Trump had said he was “not kidding” about slowing Covid-19 testing, when she had previously claimed he was just joking. Just hours earlier on Wednesday, McEnany had excused Trump’s failure to apologize for retweeting — and subsequently taking down — a video of a man yelling “White power!” by saying “The deletion stands for itself.” And at the same Wednesday press briefing, she also falsely claimed Trump’s tweet about Black Lives Matter being a “symbol of hate” was really about the organization instead of the idea, when he never mentioned the group itself.

“You know, I was listening to Kayleigh McEnany the White House spokeswoman explaining Trump’s latest, Black Lives Matter is some giant insult,” Friedman said. “It must be like this incredible, creative writing exercise that goes on there every day as they try to normalize whatever bizarre thing he has uttered that morning. She should teach creative writing when she is done as White House spokesman. I am amazed at the way they — the words and formulations they come up with to normalize what are racist, vile, and denigrating statements.”

“And we know she is performing for an audience of one,” Acosta wryly added, as he ended the segment.

Watch the video above, via CNN.

from Mediaite https://ift.tt/3ilrYUa