Talking About Politics: Sarah Sanders to leave White House at month's end

Originally asked on Quora as:

Sarah Sanders was under a great level of scrutiny professionally by some in the mainstream media or personally (Red Hen refused to serve her). Do you think she did a good job? Do you sympathize with her now that she's leaving?

My reply:

Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not, in my opinion, do a good job as Donald Trump’s second, longest-serving Press Secretary.

Yes, she served the President faithfully and to the best of her ability, but did nothing to either (a) reconcile the wide gap between real journalists (Fox News, Breitbart, and BlazeTV, being basically propaganda outlets for the right wing) and the Trump Administration, or (b) give the American people at least a modicum of honesty and decency.

On the contrary, not since Ron Ziegler, President Richard M. Nixon’s press secretary throughout his two terms (1969–1974) have we had such an adversarial Assistant to the President charged with being a liaison between a Chief Executive and the press.

Not only was Huckabee Sanders abrasive, dismissive of reporters’ questions, and downright negligent - she has not held any press conferences in over three months - but she is ill-suited for the role. Her major at Ouachita Baptist College was political science, while her minor was mass communications. This means that her priority was to be a political operator first, while trying to liaise with the media was a distant second.

Sanders will always be remembered by millions of non-Trump supporting Americans as the Queen of Lies. Her Number One priority was and always will be the promotion of Republican/Trumpism ideology. Accordingly, she said only what the President wanted her to say; if she ever stated a true fact, it was probably something along the lines of “The President will be leaving for London tomorrow….”

As a politician and preacher’s daughter, Sanders knows how to say glittering generalities that make her (and her boss) look altruistic and public-minded:

“In Washington, it's often easy to go to work, get lost in the process, and forget why we're here every day. The reason we're here is to serve the American people.”

“Kids who are the victims of broken families are more likely to end up in poverty, rehab, or jail. I'm a Republican, but I respect President Obama for setting the right example and addressing this problem.”

But she is also notoriously dishonest, so much so that even right wing-leaning Fox News’ real journalists, had to call her out on it.

Take this 2017 exchange between Fox interviewer Bill Hemmer and Huckabee Sanders about the so-called Uranium One deal, which even Shep Smith has called a hoax:

Bill Hemmer: The other matter’s the uranium deal, from eight years ago. He was asked about this yesterday on the South Lawn. He said it’s as bad as Watergate. How is this uranium deal as bad, if not worse, to paraphrase his words, than Watergate?

Sarah Huckabee: I think it certainly could be. The fact that they were working with a foreign government taking in millions of dollars through the Clinton Foundation and giving over such a large percent age of that uranium while she was Secretary of State. There’s just a lot of things that need to be looked at here. I think a thorough review needs to take place, and that’s something way above my pay grade, but I think that there are a lot of causes for concern, and I’m glad that some folks in the media are finally talking about the real collusion with Russia, and that is with the Clinton campaign and with the DNC on both of these matters.

Bill Hemmer: Does he have confidence in Bob Mueller as special counsel?

Sarah Huckabee: I certainly think he has confidence that they’re going to close this up soon …

Bill Hemmer: Soon?

Sarah Huckabee: … and this is further evidence of why that should take place.

Bill Hemmer: Why do you say, “Close it up soon?”

Sarah Huckabee: I think we are seeing more and more evidence that shows, look, they’ve been working on this and investigating this for well into a year through various committees. Every day, we find out more and more details about why the President has been right all along, and why the Democrats have been wrong all along, and I think that each day we’re getting closer and closer to closing the loop on this on our front, and sadly for the Democrats, I think it’s only expanding for them.

Bill Hemmer: Okay. Is that based on news reports, or is that based on something else, or some other channel there at the White House?

Sarah Huckabee: I think it’s based on fact, the fact that there has been no wrongdoing by the Trump campaign, and a lot of the reporting that we’re seeing coming out day in, day out with the collusion that you’ve got-

Bill Hemmer: Just to be clear now, no one from the Department of Justice have told you … or anyone at the White House … that it should be wrapping up soon. I just want to be clear on that.

Sarah Huckabee: I have not spoken with anybody at the Department of Justice on that front, but I think we’re seeing that it is getting closer to conclusion.

Bill Hemmer: Okay, I-

So, no. Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not do a good job, as I understand it. President Trump and his supporters disagree strongly, but that is to be expected.

Do I feel any sympathy for Huckabee Sanders?

No, because anyone who undermines the credibility of professional reporters and drives a wedge between a free press and the public it serves deserves nothing but contempt.

(And when I talk about professional reporters, I’m talking about trained journalists who gather facts and conduct interviews, not opinion-makers like Rachel Maddow or Sean Hannity.)

I can’t stand people who say stuff like:

“Just because reporters say something over and over and over again doesn't start to make it true”

(Note: If “reporters” are simply expressing opinions with no documented evidence or factual basis, then Sanders has a point. The way that she says this, and in the context in which she does it, though, it’s definitely meant to cast doubt on what real reporters do.)