Today marked Sarah Sanders 100th press briefing. That’s not the only reason this day was monumental for the White House press secretary. It also marked what could go down as one of the most difficult days of her tenure. Imagine being the person who had to come out and answer questions about Michael Cohen implicating the president as an unindicted co-conspirator and about Trump’s former campaign chair getting convicted.
Impression from inside the White House briefing room: Sarah Sanders really didn’t want to be here today, and looked pretty fed up. Just an impression from the fifth row.
— Philip Crowther (@PhCrowther) August 22, 2018
As a matter of fact, Sanders almost didn’t have to be there. It’s not like she actually answered any questions with direct, honest replies. Even though the Cohen information is certainly new and Manafort was just convicted she acted like it was all old news. Her answer to almost every question was that she wasn’t going to reply because it had been answered at some time in the past. Even if in the past it was a lie, a dodge or simply fantasy.
Might as well just put a tape player at the press room lectern with the recording: “the president has addressed this a number of times” on repeat.
— Sam Stein (@samstein) August 22, 2018
If Sarah Sanders doesn’t like lying for a living and tarnishing her reputation, she could always quit. And although I lament the lack of access, these daily press briefings are truly propaganda sessions with so little end value.
— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) August 22, 2018
The fact that Sarah Huckabee Sanders still defends Donald Trump is amazing. He could be in prison and Sarah Huckabee would say he’s staying at an Airbnb.
— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) August 22, 2018
In 100 briefings, Sarah Sanders has punted to Trump's personal lawyers at least 41 times. Obama's press secretaries did it zero times. Because Obama wasn't a criminal. pic.twitter.com/Rd2fHlDMWI
— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) August 22, 2018
Here are some of the exchanges and the spin that accompanied them.
Sarah Sanders says Trump “did nothing wrong, there are no charges against him” when asked about Michael Cohen saying he acted at the president's direction pic.twitter.com/3tH5ODw9zj
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) August 22, 2018
Reporter: Did President Trump commit a crime?
Press Sec. Sanders: "We've stated many times, he did nothing wrong. There are no charges against him."
Reporter: Then why not report these payments?
Sanders: "Again, I'm not going to get into the back-and-forth details." pic.twitter.com/iLRmv0EV3x
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 22, 2018
Trump is ON TAPE in April saying he knew nothing about the payment to Stormy Daniels. Today, he is ON TAPE saying he knew about the payment.
Sarah Sanders was just asked if that shows that Trump lies to the American people. She says it is a “ridiculous accusation.” pic.twitter.com/Os1p32NluF
— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) August 22, 2018
.@PressSec refuses to explain to @kaitlancollins how the president could tell Fox (in an interview on WH grounds today) that he learned of the payments to women afterwards when there's audio tape of him discussing one payment beforehand. Retreats to talking points.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 22, 2018
"The idea of an impeachment is frankly a sad attempt by Democrats. It's the only message they have going into the midterms," Sarah Sanders says.
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) August 22, 2018
If you want to watch what else she said the video is above.