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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat to do about Sarah Sanders? White House reporters have a few ideas.
Reporters have long approached White House press secretary Sarah Sanders with a trust-but-verify attitude, knowing full well that Sanders is tasked with spinning some of the more unspinnable statements made by her boss, President Trump.
But with the publication of special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs report on Thursday, Sanders credibility among the people who cover her has been stretched about as taut as a violin string.
One White House reporter, April Ryan, has openly called for Sanders to be fired. While others dont go that far, they acknowledge that Sanders public statements have damaged her, perhaps permanently, as the presidents spokeswoman. In conversations with reporters, its not unusual to hear her compared unfavorably to Ron Ziegler, President Nixons press secretary, whose reputation was shredded by the Watergate scandal.
Sanders admitted under oath to Muellers investigators that she made a series of false statements to the press after Trump fired FBI director James B. Comey in May 2017. Sanders told Mueller that her comment that countless FBI employees had told her they supported the presidents decision was a slip of the tongue. She also said a second utterance in which she said asserted that Trump and the rest of the FBI had lost confidence in Comey was made in the heat of the moment. Muellers report concluded that her comments were not founded on anything.
Given that she made the erroneous statements on two separate occasions, her explanations for them raised the possibility that she not only lied, but lied in explaining why she lied.
I hope and trust that she understands why this is a big deal and why it matters to us and to her, said Peter Baker, the veteran New York Times White House reporter, in an interview Monday. A press secretarys most important asset is credibility. If you dont have that, theres not much point. But we all make mistakes. The test is what you do about it to make things better.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/what-to-do-about-sarah-sanders-white-house-reporters-have-a-few-ideas/ar-BBWbHuR?li=BBnb7Kz
What else do you expect from an administration with very little credibility?
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,735 posts)Polly Hennessey
(6,799 posts)Ummmm, I guess they hope she understands what she has done?? I doubt she cares what the press thinks. The only way to handle a creep like Sarah is to ignore her. She lies. Why does the press want to cover her lies.
NanceGreggs
(27,815 posts)... is to follow up, every time she answers a question, with: "Is that the truth, Sarah, or another slip of the tongue?"
Or, "Are you basing that answer on facts, or are you just saying it in the heat of the moment?"
11 Bravo
(23,926 posts)Tanuki
(14,918 posts)area51
(11,911 posts)malaise
(269,054 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,670 posts)especially when they need to cover up for another lie.
samnsara
(17,622 posts)tblue37
(65,408 posts)forgotmylogin
(7,530 posts)lindysalsagal
(20,692 posts)Another hyena. It doesn't really matter who is on mic: The words will be the same. The credibility will be the same.
Might as well use a programmable robot: The spewing is all so predictable, a human is irrelevant: The concept of a trusted journalist or reporter is completely gone. Artificial intelligence would be their best solution right now: Just make "It's Obama's fault" the single answer to all questions.
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)should aggravate trump enough to ask Sean Hannity to fire her.
ProfessorGAC
(65,076 posts)Show up & ask no questions, take no notes, then after watching video, write articles pointing out the errors & lies.
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)but it's certainly an option.
DeminPennswoods
(15,286 posts)Is he that gullible? Lying everyday about everything is her primary duty.