White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Monday couldn’t name one instance of President Donald Trump denouncing Rep. Steve King (R-IA) for his various endorsements of white nationalism — even though she asserted a few seconds earlier that anti-Semitism is “something that should be called by name.”
In a press briefing Monday, Sanders refused to answer several times whether — as he’s said in public and private in recent days — Trump actually believes that Democrats belong to an anti-Jewish party.
“Does the President really believe Democrats hate Jews?” ABC News’ Jonathan Karl asked.
“Look, the President’s been an unwavering and committed ally to Israel and the Jewish people,” Sanders responded, not answering the question.
NBC News’ Hallie Jackson pressed again for answers later on Axios’ report that Trump told Republican donors behind closed doors that Democrats “hate Jewish people.”
“I am not going to comment on potentially leaked information,” Sanders responded, adding later: “The President has laid out clearly his position on this matter.”
Jackson tried again: “Does he really believe Democrats hate Jews?”
“I think that’s a question you ought to ask the Democrats,” Sanders responded.
She also appeared to insist — falsely — that Democrats had not condemned neo-Nazis.
“The President has condemned neo-Nazis and called them by name, which is what we are asking Democrats to do when they see the same type of hatred,” she said in response to a question from American Urban Radio Networks’ April Ryan.
One thing Sanders couldn’t do, though, was name one time Trump had denounced Steve King.
Instead, she celebrated House Republicans removing King from his committee assignments as a consequence for King’s comments. But Trump has never condemned King himself.
“I speak on behalf of the President on a number of topics and I’ve talked about that a number of times,” Sanders protested after Karl made that point. “I’d refer you back to those comments, where I used words like abhorrent and unacceptable.”
.@PressSec can't name a single instance when @realDonaldTrump personally condemned @SteveKingIA's endorsements of white nationalism, because Trump never did. pic.twitter.com/sKUefr2Qad
— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) March 11, 2019
