New White House Press Chief Makes Her Debut

President Trump's new spokeswoman, Kayleigh McEnany, vowed on Friday not to lie to reporters as she made her debut at the first White House briefing by a press secretary in more than a year. “I will never lie to you,” McEnany told reporters, per the AP. “You have my word on that.” McEnany, who joined the White House last month, took the stage behind a podium that had quite literally been collecting cobwebs before the president began the practice of holding his own daily briefings due to the coronavirus. McEnany said she has daily interactions with the president and sees it as her “mission” to convey his mindset to the public.

McEnany's briefing was the first since March 11, 2019, when Sarah Sanders held one. Sanders left her post that summer and her successor, Stephanie Grisham, never held a briefing during her nine-month tenure. The White House has long made the case that the briefings are less important in the Trump administration because the president is so accessible, answering reporters' questions on an often-daily basis. Trump had been holding his own daily briefings through much of the pandemic, but scaled back this week amid concerns that he was doing himself political damage and as the White House tries to pivot toward a focus on reopening.

(More Kayleigh McEnany stories.)