Trump Says He Told Sarah Sanders ‘Not To Bother’ With Press Briefings Much Anymore

A few weeks after reports surfaced that Sarah Huckabee Sanders wants to leave her job — but is having difficulty due to the fact that many are reticent to hire her, per the Inquisitr — Donald Trump came to his press secretary’s defense. On Tuesday morning, the president took to Twitter to write that the reason people don’t see Sanders at the podium these days is that he told her “not to bother” with briefings — because she receives unfair treatment from the press.

At the end of December, the Inquisitr reported that Sanders was playing a diminishing role in the White House, but hadn’t been making any signs that she planned to leave her office. Instead of daily press briefings, the press secretary was offering short monthly ones. Much speculation suggested that Sanders couldn’t leave because she couldn’t find work anywhere else.

But Trump said on Tuesday that the reason for her reduced role in the public eye is because he asked her to stop making frequent briefings at the podium, since he believes the media won’t cover news from his press secretary accurately anyway.

“The reason Sarah Sanders does not go to the ‘podium’ much anymore is that the press covers her so rudely & inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press. I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway! Most will never cover us fairly & hence, the term, Fake News!” he wrote.

Tuesday marks the longest period on record without a press briefing from the White House, a tradition that started during the Clinton administration. It has been 35 days since the last time Sanders stepped up to the podium, without a single formal briefing since December 18, 2018.

Trump’s tweet is an apparent reaction to a Fox News interview with Hogan Gidley. Deputy press secretary Gidley said that Sanders would make a return to the podium when there was a “reason” to do so.

“It’s not that they’ve ever stopped, it’s just that sometimes we need to come to the podium to communicate things and sometimes we don’t,” Gidley said.

He also added that much of the time, Trump gets the information that he wants out to the American people without using the press office.

“A lot of the times when we don’t come to the podium it’s because the president has addressed the American people himself,” he said.

This all comes a day after Sarah Sanders faced backlash for what many people saw as a tone-deaf tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.

Critics pointed out that the civil rights leader was assassinated, and said that he did not choose to give his life for his cause.

Source: Read Full Article