Thread by @AndrewFeinberg

THREAD: @PressSec briefing to begin imminently. Follow along here.

.@PressSec opens briefing by bragging about @realDonaldTrump's Nobel Peace Prize nomination (by a notorious Norwegian far-right lawmaker). Moves on to talking about Iraq/Afghanistan troop drawdowns.

.@PressSec is now rattling off a list of supposed accomplishments, including UAE-Israel deal and "economic normalization" between Serbia and Kosovo (the deal does not include full economic normalization).

.@PaulaReidCBS asks if @realDonaldTrump intentionally misled Americans on COVID. @PressSec responds: "absolutely not" (this is a lie).

"Of course I deny" that @realDonaldTrump misled the American people, @PressSec says (another lie to @PaulaReidCBS), adding that he was "calm and resolute" and "that is what leaders do"

"the president has never lied to the American public about COVID," @PressSec says (another blatant lie).

.@jonkarl asks about @realDonaldTrump's lie that COVID was "like a flu," @PressSec lies about him "listening to advisers"

.@PressSec now lying about @realDonaldTrump's fake China travel ban (after which 40k people entered the country from China)

Asked how @realDonaldTrump's COVID downplaying isn't "an abject betrayal of the public trust," @PressSec claims @realDonaldTrump "was always clear eyed" w/ Americans (another lie), claims Woodward's Fauci quote is fake.

.@GeoffRBennett: "It's on tape, Kayleigh."

@PressSec: "I'm reading to you what Dr. Fauci has said very publicly for all to see and we can all play those video clips I can get them in your inbox. "

.@PressSec: "Nobody is lying to the American people"

(THIS IS A LIE. SHE IS LYING. CONSTANTLY.)

.@PressSec is lying to @ZekeJMiller about the US having the most COVID deaths by citing "case fatality rate," which she says "shows how well our response has done with therapeutics."

There are nearly 200,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 right now.

Asked about @realDonaldTrump's rallies and COVID, @PressSec says they're "peaceful protests" and complains about #BlackLivesMatter protests.

"The President never downplayed the virus," @PressSec says.

THERE IS A TAPE OF HIM SAYING HE DOWNPLAYED IT. YOU CAN LISTEN TO IT RIGHT NOW. cnn.com/2020/09/09/pol…

"Our timing [re vaccines] is not about the election," @PressSec says, just days after @realDonaldTrump implied a vaccine would be available before the election.

.@PressSec tells @debrajsaunders that people have a first amendment right to "join a peaceful protest" in Nevada (aka a Trump rally) after Debra asks about @GovSisolak barring large gatherings causing rally to be canceled.

.@PressSec says @realDonaldTrump sat down for 18 interviews with Bob Woodward "because he's the most transparent president in history."

Asked by @FrancoOrdonez how @realDonaldTrump could claim COVID would go away when his advisers said it would be threat on level of 1918 pandemic, @PressSec says he was being "hopeful...that we would be able to manage this and handle it in a way that we can make it go away."

LIE

.@PressSec is now attacking the @WHO in response to @FrancoOrdonez's question. She's also repeating the lie about his fake "China travel ban" that let 40k people in from China after it was imposed.

.@PressSec is now offering an incoherent attack on @JeffreyGoldberg based on his reporting on Iraq/WMDs, echoing @ggreenwald. Briefing ends.