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Trump and Sanders Weave Tangled Web
Thursday’s White House press briefing, like so many others, was painful to watch. It reminded me of the famous quote from 19th-century acclaimed Scottish novelist, Sir Walter Scott:
“What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”
The sparring between White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and journalists looked more like a verbal boxing match than a good faith effort to answer questions in a truthful and transparent manner.
It’s the job of any press secretary or spokesperson to convey timely and factually accurate information to the news media. Further, nowhere is the truth more critically important than when it comes from the mouth of the President of the United States or those authorized to speak for him.
Yet if you’ve ever watched Sanders in action, it should be apparent that her responses to reporters are often misleading, to put it mildly — either unintentionally or by design (likely the latter).
Ditto that for President Trump — who acts less like a “Commander in Chief” and more like a “Deceiver in Chief.”
“I’ve given the best information I had at the time” was a line the press secretary gave ad nauseam, attempting to parry reporters who pounced on blatant inconsistencies after the Giuliani interview https://t.co/NTr4NEghuu pic.twitter.com/SRJZ2wUB0m
— POLITICO (@politico) May 3, 2018
A Damning Reality
Sanders regularly deflects, dodges and deceives from the White House podium, doing a disservice to the press and public.
A free press is an open press. This means government officials have an inherent responsibility to tell the truth and engage with goodwill in an honest dialogue with the news media.
How can the press be open when White House reporters are consistently spoon fed lies and half-truths? How can the press be open when it’s proactively prevented from reporting all the facts to the public?
Deceit is anathema to the job description of the White House Press Secretary or any press secretary.
Again, Sanders’ job is to provide timely and accurate information to the White House press corps. This is a vital function of democratic governance and serves the public good by holding government officials accountable for their actions or malfeasance.
Has “we the people” lost its meaning in the Trump era?
It’s a damning reality for America that truth and transparency have been casualties of this White House since day one…and not much has changed since then.
Disregard for Truth
According to The Washington Post, “President Trump has made 3,001 false or misleading claims so far…an average of nearly 6.5 claims a day.”
These disturbing figures were reported on May 1 and have likely risen by now, thanks to the latest addition to Trump’s legal team, Rudy Giuliani, and his live comments on Fox News.
Journalists in the White House briefing room on Thursday repeatedly called out Sanders in general, and President Trump in particular, for “what appears to be a blatant disregard for the truth,” as Jonathan Karl of ABC News put it.
A few other words to substitute for “blatant” include reckless, dangerous, insidious, heinous and malicious.
Unfortunately, veracity from this White House has been a rare commodity for far too long — whether it’s about the inauguration crowd size, Russia meddling in the 2016 presidential election, the firing of FBI Director James Comey, Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, or countless other topics and public policy issues.
The lines separating truth and lies, fact and fiction, accountability and culpability, have been obscured by the White House to an alarming extent.
Further, President Trump has gleefully prostituted the term “fake news” time and again in response to legitimate factual reporting with which he simply disagrees. Trump does a disservice to the public, the institution of the presidency and that of journalism by trying to discredit the sacred First Amendment principle of “freedom of the press.”
Authoritarian rulers around the world have mimicked President Trump’s misuse of the flagrant term “fake news” to undermine any semblance of a free press. Despots have taken Trump’s worrisome words as a clarion call to trample on transparency in journalism and social media.
But just because someone disagrees with the truth does not render facts meaningless. This is the same whether accusations of “fake news” come from the President of the United States or the president of the local Rotary Club.
Audience of One
Why has President Trump only held one solo press conference in which he took any legitimate length of time to answer random questions from White House reporters?
Instead, Trump regularly takes to Twitter with a barrage of irrational rants meant to mollify or incite his extremist base, depending on the issue. This stands in stark contrast to his predecessors, whether Democrat or Republican.
Rather than meeting the press, Trump sends out his embattled press secretary to the podium like a sacrificial lamb. Sanders dutifully does her part by playing to a superficial audience of one: President Donald J. Trump.
Any media spokesperson is only as good as the information they have from the top of the organization. You can’t tell the truth if you don’t know it.
Thus, how can Sanders even pretend to be truthful when her boss refuses to share complete and accurate information with her? This evicerates Sanders’ ability to convey factually correct information to a packed White House briefing room — and, by extension, to the American public.
This is also why Sanders was forced to utter the following words multiple times today in response to questions from an understandably agitated White House press corps:
“I’ve given the best information I had at the time.” — Sarah Sanders
But the “best information” is a subjective term that falls short on the scale of veracity. The question arises: the “best information” for whom?
Does Sanders mean what’s “best” for President Trump, or what’s in the “best” interest of the American public in furtherance of a vibrant democracy? The truth appears self-evident that the answer should not be mutually exclusive.
It’s the job of the White House press secretary to simultaneously serve the president, the press and the public.
.@jonkarl: "How are the American people to trust or believe what is said here or what is said by the president?"@PressSec: "We give the very best information that we have at the time…"
Full video: https://t.co/pmYXxHBQf3 pic.twitter.com/6I5Wl1ctGP
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 3, 2018
Final Thoughts
In essence, it appears that Sanders has lost all credibility with the news media and the American people she purports to serve.
Ditto that for President Trump, of course, as evidenced by his terrible track record for truth telling and his dismally low public approval ratings — the worst of any president in modern times.
It remains unclear how Sanders can continue to do her job with a straight face when facing the press. That’s primarily because the most important part of her job is consistently telling the truth, period! (as disgraced former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer might say.)
Even one bold-faced lie from the White House podium is one too many. But rather than being the exception to the rule, White House deception has become the rule.
It’s more clear every day that rules and norms regarding White House veracity in interacting with the news media (and on social media) have been turned upside down and kicked to the curb — similar to so many fired presidential staffers.
Still, Trump can’t fire the “truth” no matter how hard he tries. The full truth will ultimately reveal itself, as always. Trump should recall the lessons of White House history related to President Nixon’s tenuous second term.
The Watergate scandal reminds us that the cover-up is worse than the crime. Nevertheless, in Trump’s case both may carry equal weight if equal justice is finally carried out.
The disdain for truth telling by the White House is unseemly and symbolic of a third world country, not the greatest country in the world.
Moreover, the reality TV star turned American President should instinctively know that perception is often equated with reality. This is especially true within the confines of Capitol Hill.
Therefore, it’s questionable how long Republicans in Congress, particularly in the Senate, will continue their blanket support of President Trump as the vital midterm elections fast approach.
One trending reality to most Americans — based on public opinion polls and special election results — is that the Trump status quo cannot stand. This broad perception may become a harsh reality for President Trump in November. If so, it will be one devastating reality from which the former reality TV star can’t hide.
As President Ronald Reagan and others have said, “Facts are stubborn things.”
The sooner President Trump recognizes this stark reality, the better for everyone — including him.
DBG
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Previously published on Democracy Guardian, a publication onMedium.com.
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