REUTERS/Jim Bourg/Pool
- A heavy book presented by Donald Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany to Lesley Stahl as his “healthcare plan” was largely filled with existing legislation, according to CBS.
- Stahl said the book contained a series of executive orders and congressional initiatives but ‘no comprehensive health plan.’
- The book reportedly did contain some details of future healthcare plan, but much of it appears to have been contained 13 executive orders and 11 pieces of healthcare legislation already introduced during Trump’s presidency.
- McEnany delivered the book to Stahl after President Trump walked out of an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes,” having chided Stahl for asking him “tough” questions.
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A large book presented by Donald Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany to Lesley Stahl, who was interviewing the president for CBS’s “60 Minutes,” was filled with previously issued executive orders and legislation, rather than being a book primarily outlining Trump’s healthcare plan, according to the programme-makers.
During a tense “60 Minutes” interview, which aired Sunday, Trump became increasingly frustrated by what Stahl had promised would be “tough” questions, culminating with his decision to cut short the interview and walk out of the room.
“You brought up a lot of subjects that were inappropriately brought up right from the beginning,” he said, before he terminated the interview.
A clip published Sunday by CBS shows what happened in the moments after the president left the room, with Stahl claiming that the book contained “no comprehensive health plan” and was filled with a series of existing executive orders and congressional initiatives.
As the president left, Stahl turned to somebody off-camera and said: “I’ve got a lot of questions I didn’t ask.”
While the "60 Minutes" crew waited to see whether the president would return to complete the interview, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany entered the room, presented Stahl with a thick book, and said: "Lesley, the president wanted me to deliver his healthcare plan. It's a little heavy."
Stahl, who appeared surprised by the weight of the book, replied: "Oh my god, this is his healthcare plan?"
McEnany then tells Stahl that Vice President Mike Pence would be arriving for an interview shortly, but said Trump would not be returning. "The President's given you a lot of time," she said.
The book, Stahl says in the clip, was "filled with executive orders, congressional initiatives, but no comprehensive health plan."
The book does appear to have contained details of a healthcare plan, but much of it appears to have contained 13 executive orders and 11 pieces of healthcare legislation already introduced during Trump's presidency.
The conservative-leaning Washington Examiner reported last week, in a piece cited by the fact-checking site Snopes, that it had obtained a digital copy of the book. It reportedly showed that the 512-page document did contain "pages of a document called America First Healthcare Plan," as well as an executive order issued last month describing Trump's aims for healthcare. McEnany shared a link to the report amid false claims that the book had contained hundreds of blank pages.
CBS told Snopes that the Washington Examiner's description of the book was accurate.
Last week, McEnany tweeted a video of the interaction, making a different claim to the one she made in the video by saying that the book contained information about what President Trump "has done for healthcare in the United States."
—Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) October 20, 2020
President Trump also tweeted four photos of the interaction, saying the book contained information describing "some of the many things we've done for Healthcare.
Watch the video below:
—60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 26, 2020