Sarah Huckabee Sanders goes into hiding
Everyone in politics takes a day off now and then (except for Palmer Report, of course). Political figures take vacations, have dentist appointments, get sick, and tend to family emergencies. So when a prominent figure is suddenly missing in action on an important day, it’s not always a sign that they’re hiding from whatever is going down that day. But when it came to Sarah Huckabee Sanders today, it was a different story.
Last night Stormy Daniels appeared on 60 Minutes to discuss her affair with Donald Trump and to accuse his team of having threatened her physical safety in order to keep her quiet, even as Trump continues to refuse to acknowledge that the affair happened. This meant that today’s White House press briefing was going to be chock full of questions that were even more challenging and uncomfortable than usual. We would have bet money that Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the usual press briefer, would not be there. Sure enough, her deputy Raj Shah handled today’s briefing. So how did we know what was coming?
Sarah Huckabee Sanders has done this before. Back when the Rob Porter domestic abuse scandal exploded, and someone was going to have to go out and face tough questions about it the next day, it was suddenly announced that Huckabee Sanders was going on “vacation” and that Raj Shah would handle the February 8th briefing in her place. This was Shah’s first time doing the briefing and he had no business getting his feet wet on such a crucial day of questions, so it all looked suspicious, but we waited to see if it would become a pattern.
Sure enough, it’s now difficult to deny the pattern we’re seeing. On the day the toughest questions were going to be asked about why Donald Trump’s White House hired and then covered for an alleged serial wife beater, Sarah Huckabee Sanders wasn’t there. On the day the toughest questions were going to be asked about the alleged threats of physical violence that Trump’s team made against Stormy Daniels, Sarah Huckabee Sanders once again wasn’t there. Although she callously lies on Trump’s behalf on a regular basis about various criminal scandals, perhaps she doesn’t feel comfortable lying on Trump’s behalf when it comes to violence against women. If so, we don’t blame her.
