White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany: Trump can revive economy

May 8 (UPI) -- Presidential press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Friday the Trump administration is confident in a major economic recovery after several weeks of closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Labor Department said earlier in its April jobs report the U.S. economy lost more than 20 million positions last month and unemployment climbed to 14.7 percent.

"This president is the jobs president," she said "We had to put a stop to the economy [due to the coronavirus pandemic]. It wasn't some economic catastrophe that organically happened.

"We have to save 2.2 million lives, maybe more. That's what mattered most. The president that got us to the hottest economy in American history ... he can do it again."

McEnany also lauded the Justice Department's move Thursday to dismiss the criminal case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who originally pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI stemming from the department's Russia investigation. He withdrew the plea in January and accused the FBI of entrapment.

At her briefing, McEnany called his prosecution "manufactured" and blamed FBI holdovers from the Obama administration. She also said the move to drop the case is an effort to "restore faith" in the bureau.

"If the FBI can target a three-star general, they can target you," she said.

McEnany, who took over as Trump's press officer a month ago, also responded to questions about criticisms she made against Trump in 2015, when she called him a "racist" and "hateful" and said his way is "not the American way." Trump was in the early days of his presidential campaign when she made the comments.

"I was watching CNN [then] and I was naively believing some of the headlines I saw," she said Friday. "I very quickly came around to supporting the president.

"I proudly [support] this president, who I think is one of the best presidents, if not the best president this country will ever have."