Watch Sarah Huckabee Sanders struggle to explain Trump's post-Parkland tweets
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders held her first press briefing in over a week. There was a lot to address: In the last week, 17 people were killed at a high school in Parkland, Florida, by a teenager armed with a semiautomatic rifle; Special Counsel Robert Mueller announced the indictment of 13 Russians for meddling in the 2016 election; and President Trump tweeted nearly 50 times.
In one notable tweet, the president claimed the FBI missed a tip about the Parkland shooter because the bureau was too focused on investigating Russian interference. The FBI admitted Friday that information about the confessed shooter it received in January failed to reach its Miami field office.
"The president doesn't really think that the FBI failed to stop the Parkland shooter because it was too involved with the Russia investigation, does he?" ABC News' Jonathan Karl asked Sanders. "I think he was speaking, not necessarily that [the Russia investigation] is the cause," Sanders said. "I think we all have to be aware that the cause of this is that of a deranged individual." She added: "That is the responsibility of the shooter, certainly not the responsibility of anybody else."
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.
Karl immediately countered, "Did [the president] mistweet when he said that? Because he's pretty direct, he says, 'This is not acceptable, they're spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion.'" Sanders said Trump was simply "making the point that we would like our FBI agencies to not be focused on something that is clearly a hoax." Watch the exchange below. Kelly O'Meara Morales
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
Did Alex Pretti’s killing open a GOP rift on guns?Talking Points Second Amendment groups push back on White House narrative
-
The 8 best hospital dramas of all timethe week recommends From wartime period pieces to of-the-moment procedurals, audiences never tire of watching doctors and nurses do their lifesaving thing
-
‘Implementing strengthened provisions help advance aviation safety’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
