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"As
of right now, Secretary Esper is still Secretary Esper and
should the president lose faith we will all learn about that in
the future," McEnany said at a press briefing.
Earlier on Wednesday, Esper said he did not support invoking the
Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty forces to quell civil
unrest for now. He also said he was unaware he would be a part
of Trump's politically-charged photo opportunity on Monday in
front of a partly burned church across the street from the White
House.
McEnany said people protesting the police killing of George
Floyd were moved from in front of the historic church before
Trump, cabinet members and top aides, including McEnany, walked
over because Attorney General William Barr had ordered the
security perimeter around the White House be widened earlier in
the day.
"It was early afternoon. He noticed that it hadn't been cleared,
gave the order for it to be cleared, and that action took
place," McEnany said.
Trump has said he did not ask for protesters to be moved and the
U.S. Park Police has said they used pepper balls and smoke
canisters to respond to protesters throwing things.
(Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Steve Holland; Editing by Chizu
Nomiyama and Tom Brown)
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