New White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany takes heat for past comments on Obama, coronavirus

Newly appointed White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has come under fire for controversial past comments about President Barack Obama's birthplace and the coronavirus pandemic.

In social media posts and interviews resurfaced on Twitter, McEnany, who previously served as President Donald Trump's campaign spokesperson and a CNN contributor, questioned Obama's birthplace and said Democrats were almost "rooting" for the coronavirus pandemic to spread through America.

McEnany had posted several tweets in 2012 about the racist conspiracy theory spread by "birthers," or those who questioned Obama's birthplace.

Joe Lockhart, former press secretary to President Bill Clinton, retweeted one of McEnany's tweets from 2012 about Obama's brother being in a "hut in Kenya," commenting, I'm sure she'll face a lot of interesting questions if she ever gets to the podium."

Former deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes shared the tweet about a "hut in Kenya" and wrote, "this is the racist who is now the press secretary for the President of the United States."

Progressive advocacy group Public Citizen called her a "disgraceful racist."

Former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Sanders praised McEnany's appointment, calling her and Alyssa Farah, who was also named to the White House press team on Wednesday, "smart and capable women who have been loyal fighters for @realDonaldTrump."

McEnany's aggressive defense of Trump's response to the coronavirus also drew criticism.

Speaking in a March 11 radio interview on the "Pat Miller Show," McEnany said Democrats were trying "to politicize" the coronavirus and that Democrats were almost "rooting for this outcome."

"We've seen them how many times root against the stock market doing well. You had the media saying, 'There's an inverted yield curve.' This was a few months ago, therefore a recession," she said. "Oh, RV sales are down, therefore a recession. Oh, coronavirus — we're heading toward a recession. It's almost as if they're rooting for this outcome, which is sick and would obviously economically devastate the lives of the American people."

In a March 25 Fox Business Network interview resurfaced by CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski, McEnany said "we will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here" and contrasted it with Obama's presidency.

"We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here, we will not see terrorism come here, and isn’t that refreshing when contrasting it with the awful presidency of President Obama?"

Since then, the death toll from the coronavirus has approached 13,000 in the United States.

McEnany responded to Kaczynski's tweet, calling the clip "ridiculous spin" and said her comments referred to a question about travel restrictions.

Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele shared McEnany's comments on the coronavirus, writing, "isn't that special."

Democratic strategist Maria Cardona slammed McEnany's remarks as those of a "conspiracy theory-toting, factless, lie-spewing wonder."

Author Grant Stern wrote on Twitter, "Kayleigh McEnany is coming to the White House with new "alternative facts" about #coronavirus. The rest of the world calls them LIES."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kayleigh McEnany's past comments on Obama, coronavirus