White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on July 6 repeatedly clashed with reporters over President Trump’s tweet about Nascar driver Bubba Wallace and the Confederate flag.
During a press briefing today, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany referred to the vandalism on the Armenian Genocide memorial in Denver.
McEnany referenced an “Armenian genocide memorial” as she cited monuments and memorials that have recently been vandalized amid nationwide protests over racism and police brutality.
McEnany said “there seems to be lack of understanding and historical knowledge, when the Armenian Genocide Memorial remembering victims of all crimes against humanity, including slavery, is being vandalized.”
In December of 2019, the US Senate approved a unanimous consent request on the adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution. Senators Robert Menendez and Ted Cruz presented the resolution for the 4th time. The House adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide in October.
While Trump administration rejects Senate resolution recognizing Armenian genocide and made every attempt to stop
The State Department rebuked the Senate’s latest move to recognize the mass killing and deportation of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during the first half of the 20th century as genocide, releasing a statement that the administration continues to view the events as “one of the worst mass atrocities.”
“The position of the Administration has not changed,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. “Our views are reflected in the President’s definitive statement on this issue from last April.”
The global Armenian Remembrance Day is marked on April 24 each year and was commemorated by President Trump with a statement recognizing that beginning in 1915, more than 1.5 million Armenians were “deported, massacred or marched to their deaths” under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
The president did not describe the events as a genocide.
The Armenian Genocide Memorial in Denver was part of mass vandalism at Colorado State Capitol in late May.
The Colorado State Capitol in Denver was vandalized during protests sparked by the death of George Floyd. The Armenian Genocide Khatchkar memorial, which is at the State Capitol was also not spared.
While both the House of Representatives and the Senate adopted resolutions recognizing the Armenian Genocide last year, the US government has generally referred to the killings as “mass atrocities,” stopping short of calling it “genocide.”