White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Friday that President Trump is giving presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden everything required by law during the transition, despite Democrats’ “inexcusable” stonewalling and undermining Mr. Trump before his own inauguration.
She also pushed back against Mr. Biden’s contention that more Americans could die from COVID-19 because the White House isn’t sharing information with his team about plans for delivering vaccines around the nation. She said 40 million doses of vaccine will be available by the end of this year.
Ms. McEnany, holding up a copy of the administration’s “vaccination playbook,” said Mr. Biden “shouldn’t be” concerned about getting the needed information.
“This is publicly available if the former vice president would like to read through it,” she said of the booklet.
“We have done everything statutorily required and we will continue to do that,” Ms. McEnany said in her first press briefing since the election. “This president was never given an orderly transition of power. His presidency was never accepted.”
Mr. Biden and his team are criticizing the Trump administration’s General Services Administration for failing to provide certain resources to help the Democrat prepare for inauguration on Jan. 20. The head of GSA says there hasn’t been an official “ascertainment” yet that Mr. Biden is indeed president-elect.
Ms. McEnany said the White House hasn’t pressured GSA, and that the Trump campaign has “ongoing litigation” in several states over the election results.
Ms. McEnany recited a long list of examples of how Democrats resisted Mr. Trump’s election and tried to de-legitimize his presidency over the past four years, starting with the FBI’s “Operation Crossfire Hurricane” surveillance of the Trump campaign and 70 Democratic lawmakers boycotting Mr. Trump’s inauguration.
“While in 2016 President Trump became the duly elected president, many sought to undermine him, discredit him, de-legitimize him and deny his victory,” she said. “There were no calls for unity. There were no call for healing. So while every legal vote is counted, let us not forget the inexcusable transition or lack thereof that President Trump had to endure in 2016, and for years into his presidency.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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