White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders brought her traditionally combative style to the podium during a short press briefing Tuesday at the White House.
Sanders was asked a number of newsworthy questions about the potential government shutdown and two current legal scandals surrounding former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn and former Trump attorney Michael Cohen. Many of the questions included reference to Trump’s tweets on the issues.
WATCH:
A reporter asked Sanders if Trump has a “responsibility” to be more careful about what he says.
“You’ve been saying these things don’t have anything to do with the president — he’s just giving his opinion, he has a right to give his opinion — but does he not have a broader responsibility? Should he not be speaking on behalf of the American people, not just himself?” the reporter asked.
“That’s not what I said at all,” Sanders replied.
The reporter continued, wondering why Sanders often resorts to saying Trump is just “giving his opinion” on controversial issues.
Sanders had a blunt response: “He’s the President of the United States — not only does he have the ability to give his opinion, he should give his opinion.” (RELATED: First Lady Makes A Little Girl’s Christmas Dream Come True)
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“That’s why the people elected him,” the press secretary continued. “Because they trusted him to make decisions on policy they want to know what his positions are on specific policies. He absolutely should state his opinion on, not just that, but on every topic that comes up that he wants to engage on.”
The reporter went on to ask about the FBI investigations into Trump and his staff, and Trump accusing the investigations of “bias.”
“We know for a fact that the FBI engaged in an outrageous amount of political bias,” Sanders said forcefully. “Particularly under James Comey’s leadership.”
The reporter asked a final follow-up, wondering if she supports Trump using terms like “rat” to describe Michael Cohen, who is cooperating with the FBI.
“People who are dishonest and lie. Seems like an appropriate term,” Sanders said.