Sean Spicer questions the 'deafening silence' about attacks on Sarah Huckabee Sanders' appearance
Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer in a Tuesday appearance on Fox & Friends asked why there has not been more outrage over attacks on his successor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, that focus on her appearance. He specifically addressed a recent Los Angeles Times editorial by David Horsey which said Sanders looks "like a slightly chunky soccer mom who organizes snacks for the kids' games" and is uncomfortable in business attire.
Spicer argued the comments would have received considerably more attention had they come from a figure on the right and targeted a woman on the left. "When it's another member of the establishment media, a quote, 'Pulitzer-prize winning, well-established journalist,' makes disgusting kind of comments about somebody's appearance, there is a deafening silence from some of the network anchors so easily appalled at some of the other comments," he said, decrying the hypocrisy of "one-sided faux outrage."
Horsey did get pushback on his piece from the left and right alike, though Spicer is correct that the outcry did not reach the volume of, say, the uproar over President Trump's attacks on Morning Joe's Mika Brzezinski.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
Horsey has since updated the column to remove "the offending description" and apologize to Sanders and his readers. Watch Spicer's remarks below. Bonnie Kristian
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billion
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homes
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creature
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published