White House press secretary Sarah Sanders called out a CNN reporter to his face after his network reported that she didn’t actually want to be there Monday.
WATCH:
“Jeff, and I’ll take your question since you and your network constantly accuse me of not wanting to be here, so I’ll be glad to pass that question on to you now,” Sanders said to CNN’s Jeff Zeleny after calling on him.
“Why did you decide to have Secretary Nielsen answer questions instead of you?” Zeleny asked.
“I’m here answering questions as well, but I thought it was important for the secretary as one of the primary experts on the process and the things that are going on, to come out here and have the chance to speak to you and for you guys to be able to ask questions directly of her and the leaders in this administration. But I’m standing here in front of you,” Sanders said. (RELATED: Where Was The Apology For Trump? — Sarah Sanders’ Responds To Roseanne Question)
This is in response to reports on Twitter that Sanders brought Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen out because she didn’t want to do the briefing.
A White House official tells @jeffzeleny that @PressSec didn’t want to do the briefing today amid questions on child separation policy, so @SecNielsen is being flown in from New Orleans to take questions.
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 18, 2018
—@PressSec says at briefing she was “falsely accused” of not wanting to be at the briefing to answer questions on separation policy. @jeffzeleny asks why then she brought in @SecNielsen to answer questions on it instead of her. Sanders says she wanted to bring in an expert.
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 18, 2018