"I'll remind you the very first thing the president did was condemn the attacker and the very first thing the media did was blame the president," Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Monday. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)
Oct 29, 2018
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told a fresh batch of whoppers on Monday, just two days after an anti-semitic gunman murdered eleven worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh and less than 24-hours after the president refused any responsibility for his own rhetoric and behavior while accusing the media once more of being "the true Enemy of the People" and of "causing problems" related to national division and the rise of political hatred.
In the first question of the afternoon press conference, Huckabee Sanders refuted the idea that Trump has played any role whatsoever in increasing violence or hatred and affirmed the president would take no such responsibility:
\u201cSanders defends President Trump against those who say he has created a tense political environment following recent acts of violence: \u201cYou can\u2019t start putting the responsibility of the individuals on anybody but the individual who carries out the crime\u201d\u201d— CNN Politics (@CNN Politics) 1540838246
But even this self-serving claim by the White House's chief spokesperson didn't comport with the timeline of events or the nature of Trump's weekend response to the tragedy in Pittsburgh or last week's series of bomb packages that were sent to many of Trump's political enemies by a man in Florida:
\u201cCalling out Sarah Huckabee Sanders\u2019 lie. You can check Twitter and watch what he said.\nThe very first thing he did for Pittsburgh was blame them for not being armed and called the pipe bombs fake news and criticized the news on Twitter. #vote\u201d— Anthony Liselli (@Anthony Liselli) 1540841554
In a subsequent exchange with MSNBC's Hallie Jackson, Huckabee Sanders said that it was the reporters in the room, as opposed to the president, who "have a huge responsibility to play in the divisive nature of the country."
\u201c\u201cYou guys have a huge responsibility to play in the divisive nature of the country.\u201d\n\nWhite House Press Sec. Sanders responds to @HallieJackson's question about President Trump's rhetoric following the wave of pipe bombs and the synagogue attack.\u201d— MSNBC (@MSNBC) 1540837799
But as CNN White House correspondent Kaitlin Collins noted in a tweet, Huckabee Sanders' claimed didn't even come close to squaring with reality:
\u201c"The president is not placing blame," Sarah Sanders tells reporters today.\u201d— Kaitlan Collins (@Kaitlan Collins) 1540838042
Meanwhile, during one of her runaway rants in defense of the president, Huckabee Sanders also let slide the factually untrue statement that Trump won the 2016 presidential with an "overwhelming majority," but Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post was among those to quickly make sure that off-hand remark did not go unchallenged:
\u201cSarah Sanders says the president got elected by an overwhelming majority of 63 million Americans. He lost the popular vote by three million.\u201d— Josh Dawsey (@Josh Dawsey) 1540839053
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White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told a fresh batch of whoppers on Monday, just two days after an anti-semitic gunman murdered eleven worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh and less than 24-hours after the president refused any responsibility for his own rhetoric and behavior while accusing the media once more of being "the true Enemy of the People" and of "causing problems" related to national division and the rise of political hatred.
In the first question of the afternoon press conference, Huckabee Sanders refuted the idea that Trump has played any role whatsoever in increasing violence or hatred and affirmed the president would take no such responsibility:
\u201cSanders defends President Trump against those who say he has created a tense political environment following recent acts of violence: \u201cYou can\u2019t start putting the responsibility of the individuals on anybody but the individual who carries out the crime\u201d\u201d— CNN Politics (@CNN Politics) 1540838246
But even this self-serving claim by the White House's chief spokesperson didn't comport with the timeline of events or the nature of Trump's weekend response to the tragedy in Pittsburgh or last week's series of bomb packages that were sent to many of Trump's political enemies by a man in Florida:
\u201cCalling out Sarah Huckabee Sanders\u2019 lie. You can check Twitter and watch what he said.\nThe very first thing he did for Pittsburgh was blame them for not being armed and called the pipe bombs fake news and criticized the news on Twitter. #vote\u201d— Anthony Liselli (@Anthony Liselli) 1540841554
In a subsequent exchange with MSNBC's Hallie Jackson, Huckabee Sanders said that it was the reporters in the room, as opposed to the president, who "have a huge responsibility to play in the divisive nature of the country."
\u201c\u201cYou guys have a huge responsibility to play in the divisive nature of the country.\u201d\n\nWhite House Press Sec. Sanders responds to @HallieJackson's question about President Trump's rhetoric following the wave of pipe bombs and the synagogue attack.\u201d— MSNBC (@MSNBC) 1540837799
But as CNN White House correspondent Kaitlin Collins noted in a tweet, Huckabee Sanders' claimed didn't even come close to squaring with reality:
\u201c"The president is not placing blame," Sarah Sanders tells reporters today.\u201d— Kaitlan Collins (@Kaitlan Collins) 1540838042
Meanwhile, during one of her runaway rants in defense of the president, Huckabee Sanders also let slide the factually untrue statement that Trump won the 2016 presidential with an "overwhelming majority," but Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post was among those to quickly make sure that off-hand remark did not go unchallenged:
\u201cSarah Sanders says the president got elected by an overwhelming majority of 63 million Americans. He lost the popular vote by three million.\u201d— Josh Dawsey (@Josh Dawsey) 1540839053
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told a fresh batch of whoppers on Monday, just two days after an anti-semitic gunman murdered eleven worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh and less than 24-hours after the president refused any responsibility for his own rhetoric and behavior while accusing the media once more of being "the true Enemy of the People" and of "causing problems" related to national division and the rise of political hatred.
In the first question of the afternoon press conference, Huckabee Sanders refuted the idea that Trump has played any role whatsoever in increasing violence or hatred and affirmed the president would take no such responsibility:
\u201cSanders defends President Trump against those who say he has created a tense political environment following recent acts of violence: \u201cYou can\u2019t start putting the responsibility of the individuals on anybody but the individual who carries out the crime\u201d\u201d— CNN Politics (@CNN Politics) 1540838246
But even this self-serving claim by the White House's chief spokesperson didn't comport with the timeline of events or the nature of Trump's weekend response to the tragedy in Pittsburgh or last week's series of bomb packages that were sent to many of Trump's political enemies by a man in Florida:
\u201cCalling out Sarah Huckabee Sanders\u2019 lie. You can check Twitter and watch what he said.\nThe very first thing he did for Pittsburgh was blame them for not being armed and called the pipe bombs fake news and criticized the news on Twitter. #vote\u201d— Anthony Liselli (@Anthony Liselli) 1540841554
In a subsequent exchange with MSNBC's Hallie Jackson, Huckabee Sanders said that it was the reporters in the room, as opposed to the president, who "have a huge responsibility to play in the divisive nature of the country."
\u201c\u201cYou guys have a huge responsibility to play in the divisive nature of the country.\u201d\n\nWhite House Press Sec. Sanders responds to @HallieJackson's question about President Trump's rhetoric following the wave of pipe bombs and the synagogue attack.\u201d— MSNBC (@MSNBC) 1540837799
But as CNN White House correspondent Kaitlin Collins noted in a tweet, Huckabee Sanders' claimed didn't even come close to squaring with reality:
\u201c"The president is not placing blame," Sarah Sanders tells reporters today.\u201d— Kaitlan Collins (@Kaitlan Collins) 1540838042
Meanwhile, during one of her runaway rants in defense of the president, Huckabee Sanders also let slide the factually untrue statement that Trump won the 2016 presidential with an "overwhelming majority," but Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post was among those to quickly make sure that off-hand remark did not go unchallenged:
\u201cSarah Sanders says the president got elected by an overwhelming majority of 63 million Americans. He lost the popular vote by three million.\u201d— Josh Dawsey (@Josh Dawsey) 1540839053
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