'Her Credibility Was Crumbling Right Before Our Eyes': CNN Reporter Pillories Sarah Sanders' Standing as Press Secretary

Cody Fenwick
and
AlterNet
May 04, 2018News & Politics

After Rudy Giuliani completely unraveled months of the White House's messaging on President Donald Trump's relationship to the Stormy Daniels case, press secretary Sarah Sanders had a hard time setting the record straight with reporters on Thursday afternoon. CNN's Jim Acosta, one of the reporters who questioned Sanders on the matter, later said that the press secretary essentially destroyed her credibility at the day's briefing.

"This is my fourth press secretary I've dealt with. I've dealt with Jay Carney, Josh Earnest, Sean Spicer and now Sarah Sanders," Acosta said Thursday night on "Anderson Cooper 360." "And here's the problem, Anderson: "When you, as a White House press secretary, begin to lose the faith and trust of the reporters in that room, it is very difficult for you to continue to do that job."

He continued: "And as I was watching Sarah's performance today, it felt as if her credibility was crumbling right before our eyes. If the best answer she had today was, 'Well, I'm giving you the best information I have,' I think our viewers can figure out at home, they're smart enough to figure out at home, that's not exactly telling us the truth."

The worst moment of the briefing came when Acosta pushed Sanders on whether or not she was in the dark about whether Trump had paid Stephanie Clifford, who is better known as Stormy Daniels, for her silence about an affair she says the two had. Sanders had initially said in early March that Trump knew nothing about the payment, but it has now been revealed that he reimbursed his attorney Michael Cohen for the expenditure.

So either Sanders was misled about the facts when she first was told about the payment, or she directly lied to the American people.

"It calls into question from this day forward, and it really calls into question a lot of things she's said in the past, as to whether she's giving us the straight story," Acosta said.

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