The statement came from White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders in the wake of President Trump’s Tuesday night Tweet regarding First Amendment.
Think before you Tweet; that was the not-so-subtle message which the White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders was presumably giving to the American President when she was pressed by supporters to explain President Trump’s Tuesday night Tweet.
‘’The Fake News is working overtime,’’ President Trump had Tweeted on Tuesday night, before adding, ‘’ Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake).’’
Then came the bombshell: ‘’ Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?’’
The Fake News is working overtime. Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake). Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2018
This Tweet created an uproar in the National media which called it as an attack on First Amendment which gives the newspapers the right to publish. Therefore, it was highly likely that when Sarah Huckabee Sanders stood in front of reporters to give her daily briefing, she was bombarded with questions on the same topic.
Before taking any questions, Sarah Sanders, presumably in an effort to limit the damage, started her daily briefing with an insistence that this White House advocates for the press. However, that plan soon backfired as the reporter asked her to square her remarks with that of Trump’s Tweet, before adding that ‘’those two did not go together’’.
That didn’t deter Sarah Sanders from her point: ‘’ “The fact that I’m standing here taking question, the fact the president took questions from your colleagues just two hours ago, demonstrates this White House’s commitment to accessibility and providing information to the American public.’’
“At the same time, the press has a responsibility to put out accurate information,” she continued. “Just yesterday the New York Times accused the Secretary of State for being AWOL – AWOL! – when he was flying across the globe to bring three Americans home. That’s an outrageous claim!”
In addition to taking NY Times to the task, Sarah Sanders also raised questions about Washington Post, a newspaper Mr. Trump clearly doesn’t like as one can tell from her previous Tweets about the same.
‘’Washington Post, earlier this week, accused the First Lady of not living in the White House. That outrageous claim was then repeated again in this room.”
Despite her clarifications and counter-arguments, the White House Correspondents Association was having none of that.
“Some may excuse the president’s inflammatory rhetoric about the media, but just because the president does not like news coverage does not make it fake,” said Margaret Talev, the White House Correspondents Association chief.
