Sarah Huckabee Sanders just read a viral email forward from 2011 to reporters to explain the White House's position on tax reform

Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube)

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders launched into her first press briefing Monday since early morning reports about Special Counsel Robert Mueller indictments with a convoluted story about — taxes? "I want to start the briefing today by addressing a topic I know all of you are preparing to ask me about," joked Sanders, "and that's tax reform."

In order to explain why tax reform is needed, Sanders gave an almost word-for-word recitation of a viral email forward that has been circulating since at least 2011. "Suppose that every day, 10 people — for our purposes, we'll say 'reporters' — go out for beer, and the bill for all 10 comes to $100," she began. "If these 10 reporters paid their tab every night the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: The first four, the poorest, would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay … "

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.