‘Deceit and treachery’: Damning video exposes coronavirus lies by Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany

MeidasTouch has released multiple videos criticising US president over last few months

A new political ad has targeted White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, by featuring clips of her defending president Donald Trump’s transparency throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Titled “Bye Kayleigh,” the new ad, created by pro-Biden campaign group MeidasTouch, features a supercut of Ms McEnany publicly defending the president over the last few months, according to HuffPost.

In a statement accompanying the video, the progressive PAC compared the press secretary to Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, known as Baghdad Bob, who served as the propaganda minister under Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

“Kayleigh’s deceit and treachery will be long remembered once we vote these criminals out of office,” MeidasTouch said in a news release. “She will have a special place in the halls of horrible liars next to Baghdad Bob.”

The video begins with a clip from February, where Ms McEnany claims that because of Mr Trump’s leadership skills, the US “will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here.”

It then cuts to a clip of the president a few weeks later claiming that the number of deaths from Covid-19 will be “close to zero,” and the press secretary defending him by saying: “The president has this under control. Right now we are proceeding as normal. Joe Biden’s looking for an excuse to get off the campaign trail.”

The video then shifts to Mr Trump telling reporters different figures for his administration’s predicted Covid-19 death total, with numbers such as, “60,000,” between “100,000 to 200,000” and under “75,000 to 80,000” all suggested within a span of a month.

It was announced this week that the US had recorded more than 200,000 coronavirus deaths, and a clip of Mr Trump being asked about that figure is then shown, with the president ignoring it and asking if any other reporters have questions for him.

The ad then plays a clip from 9 September, where the press secretary defends the president’s transparency throughout the pandemic.

In the clip, Ms McEnany says: “The president has always been clear-eyed with the American people. He was always clear-eyed about the lives we could lose.”

The words, “quit playing politics with our lives” flash on the screen, before a clip plays, where Ms McEnany says: “I will never lie to you, you have my word on that.”

The group started the hashtag, “#BYEKAYLEIGH” to accompany the ad, and it trended on Twitter on Tuesday night.

The video was shared by various known critics of the president, and actor Dave Bautista tweeted: “#ByeKayleigh .. I don’t know how you live with yourself.”

Dr Eric Feigl-Ding, who has been critical of Mr Trump’s response to the pandemic, added: “I’VE HAD ENOUGH—We need to say goodbye to all of these coronavirus naysayers, pandemic deniers, and dangerous down-players in the WH.”

While Dr Dena Grayson, who has described Mr Trump as “completely bungling” the response to the pandemic, wrote: “Trump and his minions keep LYING about the deadly #coronavirus pandemic.

“More than 200,000 Americans have DIED, and he’s still done NOTHING. Time to say goodbye to ALL of the liars occupying the White House.”

Formed in March, MeidasTouch, which is made up of three brothers, Brett, Ben and Jordan Meiselas, has gained a following by releasing a series of videos that have criticised the president and his policies.

The group own the domain name MAGA2020.com, and describe Mr Trump on its website as “the most dangerous president in American history”.

Last month, the group also set up a billboard in Las Vegas, which listed president Donald Trump‘s “failures” during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement on its website, the group wrote that the billboard “highlights all the activities that Trump has cancelled due to his mismanaged response to the pandemic, including college football, weddings, visiting grandma, mail, jobs and the economy”.

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, in the US as a whole, some 6.8 million people have tested positive for coronavirus, while the death toll has reached at least 200,818.