By Imran Khalid
Not for a good reason, of course, but White House press secretary Sara Huckabee Sanders is again in the headlines. The controversy over her "polite" expulsion from the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, has not surprised many.
Stephanie Wilkinson, the restaurant owner, said, while explaining why she asked Sanders to leave the restaurant, "I explained that the restaurant has certain standards that I feel it has to uphold, such as honesty and compassion and cooperation. I said, 'I'd like to ask you to leave. We just felt there are moments in time when people need to live their convictions. This appeared to be one."
Apparently this incident is part of the fierce backlash over the policy of the Trump administration that has forced more than 2,300 children to be separated from their parents at the Mexican border, but in this particular case, it seems, there was more than just protest against the Trump administration.
"Bigotry. On the menu at Red Hen Restaurant in Lexington, VA. Or you can ask for the Hate Plate. And appetizers are small plates for small minds." is how Sanders wrote in her tweet about the kind of revulsion she felt at the restaurant. The fact is that Americans do not consider Sanders just a White House press secretary, they perceive her as the main spokeswoman and advocate for President Trump, a sort of devotee who can go to any extent to defend every deed ― right or wrong ― of her boss.
Indubitably, Sanders is the most illustrious White House press secretary of recent times. There has been a long list of White House press secretaries since Herbert Hoover's presidency in 1929, who mostly worked diligently and assiduously to represent their respective bosses while keeping a low profile, but none, with the exception of her predecessor Sean Spicer, has been able to grab public and media attention as much as she does now.
Spicer, the first White House press secretary of the Trump administration, served for almost six months but his period was laced with a number of controversies and skirmishes with the White House media corps. He created a stir within the first month of his stint at the White House, when he openly criticized the American media for underestimating the size of crowds at President Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony.
Spicer bragged that the ceremony had drawn the "largest audience to ever to witness an inauguration, period." Obviously this was a totally false claim that attracted a lot of flak from the press. Later, he sheepishly defended his previous statements by saying "sometimes we can disagree with the facts."
It was subsequently reported that Spicer was forced by Trump himself to make such lofty claims about the crowd numbers at the inauguration ceremony, because the president was unhappy with the "unfair and biased" coverage of his inauguration by the media. But this was just the beginning of Spicer's highly controversial spell as press secretary for Trump. His bullying attitude toward the press was very evident in all his actions.
In February 2017, several news outlets ― including the BBC, CNN, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and Politico ― were selectively blocked by the White House from an off-camera briefing (or "gaggle") with Spicer, a move that sparked a severe reaction from the outlets concerned, as well as by the White House Correspondents' Association. This was blatantly biased action which compelled Trump to start thinking about the removal of Spicer.
Eventually, due to his contentious relationship with the media and growing gaffes, Spicer had to vacate the seat for his then deputy, Sanders, who, with her exceedingly egotistical and pugnacious style, has further chiseled the gap between the White House and the press.
Her stony and stern facial expressions, during her interactions with the White House media corps, have certainly earned her an image of a robotic personality who has only a one-point agenda: No matter what, President Trump is always right and the media is always biased.
Spicer was certainly a different kind of press secretary who never hesitated from indulging in personalized fights with White House correspondents. This was a relatively new phenomenon, but Sanders has definitely eclipsed Spicer in this domain.
Spicer's spell looks pale when viewed against the long list of controversies kicked off by Sanders. Her harsh and often very derogatory remarks have touched a new low that was never seen from the press room podium in the White House.
"Your mind is in the gutter," shouted Sanders in one of her press briefings while responding to one of the reporter's questions about former staff secretary Rob Porter's resignation after two of his ex-wives accused him of abuse. There is an unending list of such instances where. Sanders resorted to such dismissive gestures and ready insults.
She is perhaps the most known female face of the Trump administration ― even more than Ivanka and Melania Trump ― and she does her best to truly reflect the president's disdain for journalists. Interestingly, unlike most White House spokespersons of the past who were often journalists themselves or associated with the press, both Spicer and Sanders have no journalistic credentials and both have treated the media in a similar ― contemptuous ― fashion.
There are a lot of similarities between the styles of Sanders and Spicer ― giving false statements and facts, unnecessarily defending Trump and bullying the White House press corps. But there is no match for her typical curled-lip sneers that she throws while tackling prickling questions from the press gallery.
The American media has not been merciful toward her either and she has been subjected to all kind of abhorrent and despicable personal attacks in print ― digital as well as electronic ― media. The relationship between any White House press secretary and any press corps assigned to cover the White House has always been tense and fractious, but the intensity of existing tension between Sanders and her audience in the briefing room has been unprecedented in recent history.
A vast majority of the Americans, who are mostly distrustful and critical of the press in general, is overwhelmingly siding with the journalists. One does agree with the principle that it is ethically wrong to reject, refuse service to, or kick out, anybody solely on the basis of who they are, who they work for, or what they do in their private or working life.
But the Red Hen restaurant episode is a reflection of the growing disenchantment among Americans for the Trump administrations' policies. The problem with Sanders is that the prime point of her job description is to "unequivocally" defend Trump's policies at any cost and she knows only one way to defend it ― the arrogant and belligerent way.
Being the chief spokeswoman for Trump, she tries to personify the dictatorial style of her boss, and in the process she goes overboard on most occasions, resulting in more controversies and more hullabaloos. Recently, though she has categorically denied them through her tweets, rumors have started making the rounds in Washington that Sanders is planning to leave the job.
Detractors of Sanders will keep growing in numbers in the briefing room unless she tones down her cantankerous style. But, for the time being, she appears to be least bothered about the hate element that has seeped into the anti-Trump camp gradually. The Red Hen incident can be repeated again elsewhere, but with much more harshness and frequency.
Imran Khalid (ikhalid99@yahoo.com) is a freelance contributor based in Karachi, Pakistan. He has been contributing articles on international relations to various newspapers and journals in the region since 1995.
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Stephanie Wilkinson, the restaurant owner, said, while explaining why she asked Sanders to leave the restaurant, "I explained that the restaurant has certain standards that I feel it has to uphold, such as honesty and compassion and cooperation. I said, 'I'd like to ask you to leave. We just felt there are moments in time when people need to live their convictions. This appeared to be one."
Apparently this incident is part of the fierce backlash over the policy of the Trump administration that has forced more than 2,300 children to be separated from their parents at the Mexican border, but in this particular case, it seems, there was more than just protest against the Trump administration.
"Bigotry. On the menu at Red Hen Restaurant in Lexington, VA. Or you can ask for the Hate Plate. And appetizers are small plates for small minds." is how Sanders wrote in her tweet about the kind of revulsion she felt at the restaurant. The fact is that Americans do not consider Sanders just a White House press secretary, they perceive her as the main spokeswoman and advocate for President Trump, a sort of devotee who can go to any extent to defend every deed ― right or wrong ― of her boss.
Indubitably, Sanders is the most illustrious White House press secretary of recent times. There has been a long list of White House press secretaries since Herbert Hoover's presidency in 1929, who mostly worked diligently and assiduously to represent their respective bosses while keeping a low profile, but none, with the exception of her predecessor Sean Spicer, has been able to grab public and media attention as much as she does now.
Spicer, the first White House press secretary of the Trump administration, served for almost six months but his period was laced with a number of controversies and skirmishes with the White House media corps. He created a stir within the first month of his stint at the White House, when he openly criticized the American media for underestimating the size of crowds at President Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony.
Spicer bragged that the ceremony had drawn the "largest audience to ever to witness an inauguration, period." Obviously this was a totally false claim that attracted a lot of flak from the press. Later, he sheepishly defended his previous statements by saying "sometimes we can disagree with the facts."
It was subsequently reported that Spicer was forced by Trump himself to make such lofty claims about the crowd numbers at the inauguration ceremony, because the president was unhappy with the "unfair and biased" coverage of his inauguration by the media. But this was just the beginning of Spicer's highly controversial spell as press secretary for Trump. His bullying attitude toward the press was very evident in all his actions.
In February 2017, several news outlets ― including the BBC, CNN, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and Politico ― were selectively blocked by the White House from an off-camera briefing (or "gaggle") with Spicer, a move that sparked a severe reaction from the outlets concerned, as well as by the White House Correspondents' Association. This was blatantly biased action which compelled Trump to start thinking about the removal of Spicer.
Eventually, due to his contentious relationship with the media and growing gaffes, Spicer had to vacate the seat for his then deputy, Sanders, who, with her exceedingly egotistical and pugnacious style, has further chiseled the gap between the White House and the press.
Her stony and stern facial expressions, during her interactions with the White House media corps, have certainly earned her an image of a robotic personality who has only a one-point agenda: No matter what, President Trump is always right and the media is always biased.
Spicer was certainly a different kind of press secretary who never hesitated from indulging in personalized fights with White House correspondents. This was a relatively new phenomenon, but Sanders has definitely eclipsed Spicer in this domain.
Spicer's spell looks pale when viewed against the long list of controversies kicked off by Sanders. Her harsh and often very derogatory remarks have touched a new low that was never seen from the press room podium in the White House.
"Your mind is in the gutter," shouted Sanders in one of her press briefings while responding to one of the reporter's questions about former staff secretary Rob Porter's resignation after two of his ex-wives accused him of abuse. There is an unending list of such instances where. Sanders resorted to such dismissive gestures and ready insults.
She is perhaps the most known female face of the Trump administration ― even more than Ivanka and Melania Trump ― and she does her best to truly reflect the president's disdain for journalists. Interestingly, unlike most White House spokespersons of the past who were often journalists themselves or associated with the press, both Spicer and Sanders have no journalistic credentials and both have treated the media in a similar ― contemptuous ― fashion.
There are a lot of similarities between the styles of Sanders and Spicer ― giving false statements and facts, unnecessarily defending Trump and bullying the White House press corps. But there is no match for her typical curled-lip sneers that she throws while tackling prickling questions from the press gallery.
The American media has not been merciful toward her either and she has been subjected to all kind of abhorrent and despicable personal attacks in print ― digital as well as electronic ― media. The relationship between any White House press secretary and any press corps assigned to cover the White House has always been tense and fractious, but the intensity of existing tension between Sanders and her audience in the briefing room has been unprecedented in recent history.
A vast majority of the Americans, who are mostly distrustful and critical of the press in general, is overwhelmingly siding with the journalists. One does agree with the principle that it is ethically wrong to reject, refuse service to, or kick out, anybody solely on the basis of who they are, who they work for, or what they do in their private or working life.
But the Red Hen restaurant episode is a reflection of the growing disenchantment among Americans for the Trump administrations' policies. The problem with Sanders is that the prime point of her job description is to "unequivocally" defend Trump's policies at any cost and she knows only one way to defend it ― the arrogant and belligerent way.
Being the chief spokeswoman for Trump, she tries to personify the dictatorial style of her boss, and in the process she goes overboard on most occasions, resulting in more controversies and more hullabaloos. Recently, though she has categorically denied them through her tweets, rumors have started making the rounds in Washington that Sanders is planning to leave the job.
Detractors of Sanders will keep growing in numbers in the briefing room unless she tones down her cantankerous style. But, for the time being, she appears to be least bothered about the hate element that has seeped into the anti-Trump camp gradually. The Red Hen incident can be repeated again elsewhere, but with much more harshness and frequency.
Imran Khalid (ikhalid99@yahoo.com) is a freelance contributor based in Karachi, Pakistan. He has been contributing articles on international relations to various newspapers and journals in the region since 1995.
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