What’s this about Sarah Huckabee Sanders being on her way out?
Last night there was widespread reporting that Donald Trump is preparing to fire Homeland Security Director Kirstjen Nielsen. Considering Trump’s wishy washy nature on these things, we’ll see if it ends up happening. But as this news has spread around social media today, several people have jumped in to add that they’re hearing Sarah Huckabee Sanders is also on her way out. This has led to some confusion.
To be clear, there is reporting – from CBS News – that Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her deputy Raj Shah are expected to be gone from the White House by the end of the year. However, this reporting occurred all the way back in June. There is every reason to believe that the reporting from CBS was valid (why wouldn’t it be?), and as it’s not yet the end of the year, there is no specific reason to discount this report. That said, it’s not new reporting.
What we’re seeing today is a whole lot of people sharing the old CBS News article about Huckabee Sanders as if it were new, without noticing that it’s dated June 13th, 2018. This often happens on social media, particularly when a new and similar story surfaces, in this instance the supposed impending firing of Kirstjen Nielsen.
So is Sarah Huckabee Sanders really on her way out? That depends on whether the CBS News story from June was accurate to begin with, and whether anyone involved has since changed their mind. We’ll see what happens. In the meantime, as you’re hearing this sudden buzz about Sanders being out of a job, keep in mind that it’s based on a six month old story, and not on any new reporting.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report