Press Secretary Sarah Sanders immediately lost it when a reporter called her out on blaming the press for violence.
Sanders was asked by ABC’s Jon Karl, “The president has harshly attacked the people who received the pipe bombs and suggesting that the news media is responsible for the anger in the country. How does he do that in when the in the case of the pipe bombers, this is someone who went to Trump rallies and attacked the media and praised the president. The shooter in Pittsburgh is someone who provoked by the caravan that the president has been talking about. Why is he out there when you say he is trying to unite the country. Why is he out there?
The press secretary blew up, “The very first thing the president did was condemn the attacks in Pittsburgh and in the pipe bombs. The first thing the media did was blame the president and make him responsible for these ridiculous acts. That is outrageous that that is the first reaction of so many people across this country. I’m not finished. The only person responsible for carrying out either of these acts were the individuals who carried them out. It’s not the president no more than it was Bernie Sanders’s fault for the individual who shot up a baseball field of Republicans. You can’t put the responsibility on anybody but who carries out the crime.
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Sarah Sanders says the president isn't assigning blame.
Fact: The White House has been blaming the press since the mailbombs started being delivered last week. https://t.co/ZFuVicXV6l pic.twitter.com/vuBNHLBjBp
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) October 29, 2018
Karl pointed out, “The president is the one placing blame here.”
Sanders ignored the role of Trump’s rhetoric, “The president is not placing blhttps://www.politicususa.com/wp-admin/media-upload.php?post_id=331581&type=image&TB_iframe=1ame. The president is not responsible for these acts. The very first action that the president did was condemn these heinous acts. The very first thing that the media did was condemn the president and place blame not just on the president, but everybody that works in this administration. The major news network’s first public statement was to blame the president and myself included. That is outrageous that anybody other than the individual who carried out the crime would hold that responsibility.”
Sarah Sanders tried to move the goal posts
No one is blaming Trump for the attacks. No one has said that he mailed a bomb or pulled a trigger. Trump is responsible for the climate that his rhetoric has created. The White House won’t take responsibility for the rhetoric, because it is their political brand. It is their primary way of motivating their supporters.
The press isn’t going to be Trump’s punching bag, and she couldn’t handle it when Karl pointed out that it is the president and the White House who are assigning blame after these attacks.
If the point of this briefing was damage control, Sanders totally failed.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
