Reporters have long approached White House press secretary Sarah Sanders with a trust-but-verify attitude, knowing full well that Ms Sanders is tasked with spinning some of the more un-spinnable statements made by her boss, President Donald Trump.
But with the publication of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Thursday, Ms 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 Ms Sanders to be fired. While others don't go that far, they acknowledge that Sanders' public statements have damaged her, perhaps permanently, as the president's spokeswoman. In conversations with reporters, it's not unusual to hear her compared unfavourably to Ron Ziegler, President Nixon's press secretary, whose reputation was shredded by the Watergate scandal.
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Ms Sanders admitted under oath to Mr Mueller's investigators that she made a series of false statements to the press after Trump fired FBI director James Comey in May 2017. Ms Sanders told Mr Mueller that her comment that "countless" FBI employees had told her they supported the president's 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 Mr Comey - was made "in the heat of the moment." Mr Mueller's 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.
Shape Created with Sketch. President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Show all 16 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media 1/16 "You are fake news!" Then President-elect Trump directed this insult to CNN's Jim Acosta while refusing him a question at a press conference on January 11 2017. The President-elect's anger was due to the publishing by Buzzfeed of unverified memos that implicated Michael Cohen in Russian collusion. CNN had reported on a briefing of Obama and Trump on the memos by US intelligence chiefs, but knowing the content to be unverified had not revealed it AFP/Getty 2/16 "They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth" President Trump said this of journalists during a visit to the CIA on the the day following his inauguration. His claim of having the largest crowd of any inauguration ceremony in history had been debunked and he clearly wasn't happy Reuters 3/16 "Failing New York Times" President Trump commonly addresses the New York Times in this way, contrary to its increasing profit margins and expanding global readership. He is pictured here in the midtown Manhattan office of the paper Getty 4/16 "Enemy of the American People" President Trump has since repeated the claim that such news outlets are the enemy of the people, often after they break negative stories about him 5/16 "They have no sources" Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 24 2017, President Trump suggested that a Washington Post article with 9 sources was "made up". The article in question exposed how then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence over a phone call to a Russian ambassador. That the article was "made up", while highly doubtful at the time, seems even less likely since Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the same phone call Reuters 6/16 Access denied for major publications Protesters gathered outside of the New York Times office after Trump's White House barred a number of publications from attending a press briefing on February 24 2017. Just hours after the President had again denounced the media, then Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied access to news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times, while permitting Breitbart News, CBS, Fox and others AFP/Getty 7/16 "#FNN" On July 2 2017, President Trump tweeted an edited clip from his Wrestlemania XXIII appearance in which the CNN logo had been imposed onto the face of his wrestling opponent Vince McMahon. CNN is a common target for President Trump and here he suggests that he is getting the better of the network through his repeated attacks 8/16 "The most powerful TV show in America" On July 27 2017, President Trump quoted a New York Times article about Fox & Friends. The President is known to watch Fox & Friends every morning, often tweeting about matters discussed on the show, leading to speculation over its influence on his outlook and policies Getty 9/16 "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write" In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 11 2017, President Trump suggested that the press ought not to be allowed their constitutionally secured freedom. He added "people should look into it", suggesting that he also doesn't respect the protection of sources. At the time, he was angry at an NBC report claiming that the President had expressed a desire to return the size of the US' nuclear arsenal to its 1960s height, a claim that he and others in his administration dismissed as fake news AFP/Getty 10/16 "negative (Fake)" In a tweet on 9 May 2018, President Trump conflated negative reporting about him with fake news 11/16 "I didn't criticise the Prime Minister" In a press conference with the Prime Minister on his visit to Britain, President Trump disputed claims published in the Sun that he had criticised Mrs May's Brexit strategy Reuters 12/16 "Horrible, horrendous people" At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain AFP/Getty 13/16 Trump's rhetoric "very close to inciting violence" In an interview with the Guardian on 13 August 2018, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein suggested that President Trump's attacks on the press are "very close to inciting violence". Zeid singles out the President's repeated claim that the fake news (negative coverage) media is the "enemy of the people" as dangerous Reuters 14/16 "anonymous source" = fiction President Trump claimed that any report citing anonymous sources is fiction. The protection of sources is a vital matter of press freedom, without it a potential source's fear of repercussions could lead them to withhold important information 15/16 "You are a rude, terrible person" At a press conference in the wake of the midterms, President Trump clashed with CNN's Jim Acosta when he asked about the President's use of language during the campaign Reuters 16/16 "I would never kill Journalists" For any journalists frightened by President Trump's attacks on the press, perhaps you can take solace in his words from a campaign rally in Grand Rapids on December 21 2015. Responding to remarks over Vladimir Putin's handling of journalists, Trump stated: "I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them... I'll be honest - I would never kill them. Uhhh lets see.. no, I never would" Getty 1/16 "You are fake news!" Then President-elect Trump directed this insult to CNN's Jim Acosta while refusing him a question at a press conference on January 11 2017. The President-elect's anger was due to the publishing by Buzzfeed of unverified memos that implicated Michael Cohen in Russian collusion. CNN had reported on a briefing of Obama and Trump on the memos by US intelligence chiefs, but knowing the content to be unverified had not revealed it AFP/Getty 2/16 "They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth" President Trump said this of journalists during a visit to the CIA on the the day following his inauguration. His claim of having the largest crowd of any inauguration ceremony in history had been debunked and he clearly wasn't happy Reuters 3/16 "Failing New York Times" President Trump commonly addresses the New York Times in this way, contrary to its increasing profit margins and expanding global readership. He is pictured here in the midtown Manhattan office of the paper Getty 4/16 "Enemy of the American People" President Trump has since repeated the claim that such news outlets are the enemy of the people, often after they break negative stories about him 5/16 "They have no sources" Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 24 2017, President Trump suggested that a Washington Post article with 9 sources was "made up". The article in question exposed how then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence over a phone call to a Russian ambassador. That the article was "made up", while highly doubtful at the time, seems even less likely since Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the same phone call Reuters 6/16 Access denied for major publications Protesters gathered outside of the New York Times office after Trump's White House barred a number of publications from attending a press briefing on February 24 2017. Just hours after the President had again denounced the media, then Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied access to news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times, while permitting Breitbart News, CBS, Fox and others AFP/Getty 7/16 "#FNN" On July 2 2017, President Trump tweeted an edited clip from his Wrestlemania XXIII appearance in which the CNN logo had been imposed onto the face of his wrestling opponent Vince McMahon. CNN is a common target for President Trump and here he suggests that he is getting the better of the network through his repeated attacks 8/16 "The most powerful TV show in America" On July 27 2017, President Trump quoted a New York Times article about Fox & Friends. The President is known to watch Fox & Friends every morning, often tweeting about matters discussed on the show, leading to speculation over its influence on his outlook and policies Getty 9/16 "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write" In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 11 2017, President Trump suggested that the press ought not to be allowed their constitutionally secured freedom. He added "people should look into it", suggesting that he also doesn't respect the protection of sources. At the time, he was angry at an NBC report claiming that the President had expressed a desire to return the size of the US' nuclear arsenal to its 1960s height, a claim that he and others in his administration dismissed as fake news AFP/Getty 10/16 "negative (Fake)" In a tweet on 9 May 2018, President Trump conflated negative reporting about him with fake news 11/16 "I didn't criticise the Prime Minister" In a press conference with the Prime Minister on his visit to Britain, President Trump disputed claims published in the Sun that he had criticised Mrs May's Brexit strategy Reuters 12/16 "Horrible, horrendous people" At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain AFP/Getty 13/16 Trump's rhetoric "very close to inciting violence" In an interview with the Guardian on 13 August 2018, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein suggested that President Trump's attacks on the press are "very close to inciting violence". Zeid singles out the President's repeated claim that the fake news (negative coverage) media is the "enemy of the people" as dangerous Reuters 14/16 "anonymous source" = fiction President Trump claimed that any report citing anonymous sources is fiction. The protection of sources is a vital matter of press freedom, without it a potential source's fear of repercussions could lead them to withhold important information 15/16 "You are a rude, terrible person" At a press conference in the wake of the midterms, President Trump clashed with CNN's Jim Acosta when he asked about the President's use of language during the campaign Reuters 16/16 "I would never kill Journalists" For any journalists frightened by President Trump's attacks on the press, perhaps you can take solace in his words from a campaign rally in Grand Rapids on December 21 2015. Responding to remarks over Vladimir Putin's handling of journalists, Trump stated: "I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them... I'll be honest - I would never kill them. Uhhh lets see.. no, I never would" Getty
"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 secretary's most important asset is credibility. If you don't have that, there's not much point. But we all make mistakes. The test is what you do about it to make things better."
Ms Sanders hasn't offered an apology or a public correction. Instead, she has gone on offence. After repeating the "heat of the moment" excuse during an interview on "Good Morning America," she fired back, "I'm sorry that I wasn't a robot like the Democrat Party that went out for 2 1/2 years and repeated time and time again that there was definitely Russian collusion between the president and his campaign."
Mr Ryan, a CNN political analyst who covers the White House for American Urban Radio Networks, was having none of that on Monday. "She has acknowledged that she lied under oath," she said. "You can't trust her. End of story."
She added, "She's been caught in lie after lie. It's beyond spin. She speaks for the president, so it's life and death. In any other job, if someone acknowledged they lied under oath, they'd be gone. They'd be terminated."
After Mr Ryan called for Mr Trump to "start lopping the heads off" of discredited officials, including Ms Sanders, her father, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, called the comment "an incitement to murder" on Twitter. He asked if the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) would revoke Ryan's press credential, apparently unaware that the WHCA doesn't issue press credentials. Ms Sanders told "Fox & Friends" that the comment was "a new low for the liberal media."
To some extent, Ms Sanders' credibility is a moot point among reporters, given her increasing isolation from and limited contacts with the press.
Under Ms Sander's tenure, formal press briefings have all but disappeared, relieving Ms Sanders of what was, at least in previous administrations, the press secretary's primary daily responsibility. As of Tuesday, the Trump White House will set a record for the longest stretch without a briefing, 43 days. This breaks the previous record set in March (42 days), which broke the record set in January (41 days). Since the beginning of the year, Sanders has had just two briefings, fielding press questions for a mere 30 minutes or so in total.
Ms Sanders sometimes holds Q&As with reporters on the White House driveway outside the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room. But these are both informal and irregular. She has also become well known among reporters for not responding to emails or calls to her office seeking comment.
Ms Sanders did not reply to a request for comment for this story.
One reporter points out that Ms Sanders can be helpful in the limited times she does engage, but not in a way that the public - or the president - sees. Ms Sanders still has access to the president and can be a useful source on background or off the record, said the reporter. "She won't deny things that she knows to be true," said the reporter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because her employer hadn't approved her speaking for publication.
"As far as I'm concerned, the Mueller report hasn't changed anything," said Olivia Nuzzi, who covers the White House for New York Magazine. "Sanders never should have been relied on, and she should not be relied on now."
lunetick on April 23rd, 2019 at 14:17 UTC »
What about Trump admitting he 'Didn't Need' to declare a national emergency?? Not mentioning other lies...
TruthSeekerbeta on April 23rd, 2019 at 14:14 UTC »
She did not have credentials to begin with but now, we have some documentation to justify that she has no credentials and a reason for her to be fired. If she does not get fired, then what?
Jesus_Ahegao on April 23rd, 2019 at 14:14 UTC »
Not only did she lie but after she admitted that she lied she went back on TV to say that she didn't "mean to lie" that it was "the heat of the moment" of being interviewed by Mueller's team.
She has moved back to defending herself and saying she never lied.