White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended President Donald Trump’s tweet against MSNBC Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski on Thursday: “The American people elected a fighter,” she said.
Earlier on Thursday, Brzezinski had accused Trump on air of “lying every day and destroying the country.” She added that he was “covering his hands” in a mock Time magazine cover at his golf clubs “because they’re teensy.”
Trump responded on Twitter:
Republicans on Capitol Hill scrambled to criticize and condemn Trump’s remarks, which was the starting point for the White House Press Corps as they pressed Sanders for the administration’s response.
Sanders defended the president’s tweets as a justified response to constant personal attacks against him from the media. “I think that the president has been attacked mercilessly on personal accounts by members on that program, and I think he’s been very clear that when he gets attacked, he’s going to hit back. I think the American people elected somebody who’s tough, who’s smart, and who’s a fighter. And that’s Donald Trump. And I don’t think that it’s a surprise to anybody that he fights fire with fire.”
She also criticized Morning Joe for “very deeply personal” attacks on White House staff, including herself.
Sanders also called out what she described as a double standard by the mainstream media:
“They do this day after day after day, and then the president responds and defends himself and everybody is appalled and blown away. Frankly, if this had happened in the previous administration — the type of attacks launched — on this program, the things they say, “Utterly stupid,” “Personality disorder,” “Mentally ill,” constant personal attacks … the rest of the media would have said, ‘Guys, no way. Hold on.’ But nobody does that.”
Asked where Trump draws the line in defining “the dignity of the office,” Sanders said: “He shows that every day in the decisions that he’s making, the focus and the priorities he’s laid out in his agenda. But he’s not going to sit back and be attacked by the liberal media, Hollywood elites — and when they hit him, he’s going to hit back.”
She added later: “The American people elected a fighter. They didn’t elect somebody to sit back and do nothing. They knew what they were getting when they voted for Donald Trump, and he won overwhelmingly.”
Asked whether the president’s tweets made him less of a role model for her own children, Sanders replied: “Look, I’ve been asked before. When it comes to role models, as a person of faith, I think we all have one perfect role model. And when I’m asked that question, I point to God. I point to my faith. And that’s where I would tell my kids to look. None of us are perfect. And certainly, there’s only one that is, and that’s where I would point — that direction.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.