McEnany defends Trump's 99% harmless virus comment

The White House is pointing to declining case mortality rates after coronavirus infections in the United States to back up President Donald Trump's 4th of July claim about coronavirus cases, that "99% of which are totally harmless.”

"The president was noting the fact that the vast majority of Americans who contract coronavirus will come out on the other side of this," White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters Monday.

In his Saturday remarks, Trump said the U.S. was testing too much and falsely asserted that “by so doing, we show cases, 99% of which are totally harmless.”

The Food and Drug Administration commissioner later declined to back up Trump’s claim. Dr. Stephen Hahn told US news networks that government data clearly show there is a serious problem with the coronavirus pandemic.

Just a day earlier, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem accompanied the president aboard Air Force One, despite having had close contact with Trump’s son’s girlfriend, who had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Trump has been in a position all along to encounter a virus that spreads from people who don’t feel sick, such as Noem, who had interacted closely at a campaign fundraiser with Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, who turned out to be infected. Noem didn't wear a mask on the plane and chatted with the president as the flight returned to Washington, D.C., according to her spokesperson, Maggie Seidel.

Noem had tested negative for COVID-19 shortly before welcoming Trump to South Dakota on Friday, a day after she had interacted with Guilfoyle.

Asked about Trump’s interaction with Noem, the White House noted the frequency with which the president is tested.

“The president is tested constantly, has tested negative, and those around him are tested as well,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.

When asked why Noem was allowed to travel on Air Force One, McEnany referred the question to the Secret Service, but added: “They take the president’s health very seriously. They would never put him in a situation that would put him in harm’s way.”