Sarah Huckabee Sanders overlooks Trump's 'immorality' by focusing on his 'unconventionality'

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders reconciles her traditional Christian beliefs with President Trump's sometimes-not-so-Christian tendencies by separating church and state. "I'm not going to my office expecting it to be my church," she told The New Yorker in an interview published Tuesday.

Sanders fell into the press secretary job last year when tumultuous staffing issues left the post open; as one former adviser said, "There wasn't anybody else." She was reportedly brought on to Team Trump as a way to link the president to evangelicals and suburban women.

Though she rarely hints at her personal views on Trump's policy decisions, she is steadfastly loyal to the president's message, functioning at once as "the wall" Trump built and the "battering ram" fighting through his myriad crises. Her views or style can sometimes diverge from what The New Yorker calls Trump's "immorality," by evangelical standards, but she focuses on the positive aspects of his "unconventionality." Someone close to her said that she views Trump's bombastic and uncompromising approach as effective, if unsavory.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

During official press briefings, Sanders can't say anything "even somewhat nuanced" about Trump, a source said — praise only. However, behind the scenes, reporters say she is much less confrontational and is often quite helpful. The New Yorker reports that she stays aggressive on camera because it pleases Trump and helps him push his claims of "fake news." Sanders says she likes the "nervous adrenaline" that comes with the job. "The odds are stacked against you," she said of entering the briefing room to face upwards of 50 reporters. "I like it, though." Read more at The New Yorker.