Sarah Sanders defends Trump calling reporters 'enemy of the people'
by Steven Nelson
| August 02, 2018 02:25 PM
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders defended President Trump's use of the term "enemy of the people" to describe journalists, after presidential adviser Ivanka Trump disagreed with her father's use of the term.
"Is the press the enemy of the people or not?" a reporter asked Thursday at the White House press briefing.
Sanders declined to offer a personal opinion, but defended Trump's use of the term, alleging media bias.
"The president is rightfully frustrated," she said. "Ninety percent of the coverage on him is negative, despite the fact that the economy is booming, ISIS is on the run, and the American leadership is being reasserted around the world."
Sanders continued:
"Just this week, the media refused to cover his remarks in Florida to highlight his efforts on the workforce development. In fact, the pooler for the press said no news was made despite the fact that the governor of the state joined with dozens of businesses across the state of Florida to announce thousands of new jobs. That may not be news in Washington, D.C., but I can assure you that it is news in the state of Florida that people who didn't have a job before the president took office have better opportunity and the opportunity to have a job moving forward.
"That is actually real news and something that people in the state of Florida and across the country appreciate. It was totally ignored. Not only that, but before a journalist on CNN claimed the president hadn't taken questions in over a week, despite the fact that same journalist did a live shot from the two-and-two press conference that the president had with the prime minister of Italy moments, just moments, after making that accusation. With this sort of misinformation and the lack of interest that's so pervasive in the media, it's completely understandable for the president to be frustrated."Later, Sanders was pressed again on Trump's use of the phrase, famously uttered in the past by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. She defended criticism of the media by saying she has been mistreated by reporters. She responded:
"The president has made his position known. ... It's ironic, Jim, that not only you and the media attack the president for his rhetoric when they lower the level of the conversation in the country. Repeatedly, repeatedly, the media resorts to the personal attacks without any content other than to incite anger. The media has attacked me personally on a number of occasions, including your own network. Said I should be harassed as a life sentence, that I should be choked. ICE officials are not welcome in place of worship and personal information shared on the Internet.
"When I was hosted by the Correspondents' Association, of which almost all of you are members, you brought a comedian up to attack my appearance, and call me a traitor to my own gender. As far as I know, I'm the first press secretary in the history of the United States that required secret service protection. The media continues to ratchet up the verbal assault against the president and everyone in this administration and certainly we have a role to play. But the media has a role to play for the discourse in this country as well."Sanders asked again for an answer on whether the press was the "enemy of the people." She said, "I've addressed my personal feelings. I'm here to speak on behalf of the president. He has made his comments clear."
Earlier on Thursday, Ivanka Trump said at an event in Washington that she disagreed with her father's use of the term. "No, I don't see [the media] as the enemy of the people," she said.
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