Today's White House press briefing prompted a flurry of questions about former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and the kneeling protests sweeping the NFL, interspersed with inquiries about North Korea and Jared Kushner's private email server. Here are some of White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders' most depraved responses at today's briefing.
When asked if President Trump went too far by calling NFL players “sons of bitches” who should be fired, Huckabee Sanders responded:
“I think it's always appropriate for the President of the United States to protect our flag, protect our national anthem, and protect the men and women who fought and died in defense of it.”
Huckabee Sanders has mentioned several times that the NFL protests and Trump's response to them have nothing to do with race. It was brought to her attention that Colin Kaepernick's goal was to protest racial inequality and police brutality, but instead it was interpreted as disrespect for our troops and our flag. However, white supremacist protesters argued that their protests were about heritage, not hate, and Trump was more willing to accept that. When asked about this discrepancy, Huckabee Sanders responded:
“I think if the debate for them is really about police brutality, then they should be protesting the officers on the ground who are protecting them, not the American flag.”
She later said that this was not what she meant and that she “toI want to point out the hypocrisy that when it comes to the kind of police brutality they've claimed, protesting the American flag doesn't seem very appropriate. I'm not sure how those two things can be combined.”
Asked whether Jared Kushner's emails from his private server would be released, Huckabee Sanders said she had no information on the matter.
When asked about why Trump gave the speech he gave at the United Nations after being warned not to provoke North Korea, Huckabee Sanders responded:
“TThis is a false narrative. The national security team was involved in the speech writing process and were very pleased with the President's performance at the UN.”
When asked about Tom Price's private jet travel, which has spent $400,000 of taxpayer money since May, Huckabee Sanders responded:
“This trip was not approved by the White House.it was done out of the HHS general budget, and I think Secretary Price talked about that over the weekend; “They are conducting both an internal and interdepartmental review and all private charter travel is suspended until the review is completed.”
When asked about Secretary of State Carson disagreement with the President and Vice President regarding the Alabama Senate runoff elections – Carson approved Christian supremacist Roy Moorewhile Trump endorsed his opponent Luther Strange, Huckabee Sanders' response was:
“TThe president has many people with different experiences and, of course, with different opinions. He always welcomes them to speak up.”
Trump, however, has made it clear that he does not welcome NFL players speaking their minds. When asked if President Trump has a First Amendment problem, Huckabee Sanders responded:
“Nnot at all. The President is simply saying that being proud of our country is a good thing. This is something we should all celebrate; this is something that, frankly, should unite us, not divide us. He believes that standing up for the national anthem is symbolic of that.”
When asked if the president is waging a culture war, Huckabee Sanders responded:
“Not at all. The president is not talking about race, the president is talking about pride in our country.”
