Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ Immigration Press Conference Was Disgraceful
Of all the atrocities perpetrated by the Trump administration, the separation of children from their parents at the border is hitting the nation on a primal level. Officials have largely demurred when confronted with the issue, and Trump has falsely blamed family separation on Democratic legislation. On Wednesday, journalists were given a look at one of the facilities housing unaccompanied children, which MSNBC’s Jacob Soboroff found to resemble a prison more than a shelter. On Thursday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked about the issue during a heated press briefing. Her responses were disgraceful.
“On the children who are being separated from their families as they come across the border, the attorney general earlier today said there is justification for this in the Bible,” said CNN’s Jim Acosta. “Where does it say in the Bible that it’s moral to take children away from their mothers?”
Sanders said she wasn’t familiar with the comments made by Attorney General Sessions before countering that “it is very Biblical to enforce the law.” She then insulted Acosta’s intelligence before blaming Democrats for refusing to close the “legal loopholes” that enabled the administration’s new policy.
Asked about biblical justification for separating children from parents, Press Sec. Sanders says, “It is very biblical to enforce the law.” https://t.co/pypPFol1QR pic.twitter.com/qRzfYsBNuL
— ABC News (@ABC) June 14, 2018
A reporter pointed out that it was the administration’s decision to make migrants crossing the border a criminal rather than a civil matter, and that Attorney General Sessions admitted the policy was instituted as a way to deter migrants from seeking asylum in the United States. Sanders continued to deflect and blame the Democrats, prompting reporter Brian Karem to lash out at the press secretary.
“Don’t you have any empathy?” pic.twitter.com/Ktms7XfKOi
— Leanne Naramore (@LeanneNaramore) June 14, 2018
Sanders accused Karem of posturing for TV time, and as he continued to question whether she has any empathy while pointing out that she has young children of her own, Sanders stared at the floor silently.
Since taking over for Sean Spicer in July 2017, Sanders has routinely debased herself and the nation by peddling excuses for Trump’s erratic behavior and irresponsible directives, but her callous defense of such a heinously immoral policy decision is especially depressing to watch. Americans have long since been inured to the president’s total lack of empathy. It’s a little more difficult to process such disregard for basic human rights being projected by the rest of his administration. Ripping infant children from their mothers isn’t simply a side effect of Trump’s amorality. It’s now been promulgated as the official position of the United States. These acts are not an exception to American values, they’re the new American values.