Appearing on NBC Newsâ Meet the Press on Sunday morning, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders doubled down on her bossâs endorsement of a totalitarian dictatorâs attacks on one of his political opponentsâan opponent who also happens to be a former American vice-president.
While overseas during a four-day trip to Japan, President Trump tweeted that he wasnât bothered by North Korea firing off âsome small weaponsâ because the nationâs brutal leader made him smile âwhen he called Swampman Joe Biden a low IQ individual.â
âPerhaps thatâs sending me a signal?â Trump added.
After Sanders said that Trump âstill feels comfortable and confident in his relationshipâ with Kim despite recent missile tests and that the North Korean dictator will âstay true to the commitmentâ of denuclearization, host Chuck Todd asked her about the presidentâs words.
âCan you explain why Americans should not be concerned that the president of the United States is essentially siding with a murderous authoritarian dictator over a former vice president in the United States?â Todd wondered.
âChuck, the president's not siding with that,â the press secretary asserted before adding, âbut I think they agree in their assessment of former Vice President Joe Biden.â
She went on to say that Trumpâs focus right now âis the relationship he hasâ with Kim and that he hopes that relationship will âmove us further down the pathâ of denuclearization.
âThe president of the United States takes the North Korean dictator's word about Joe Biden?â Todd exclaimed. âWhat happened to speaking with one voice in American foreign policy? Is the president not setting up trying to have world leaders sort of pick which political party they should side with? I don't understand what message the president is sending here.â
Sanders insisted that the president âdoesnât need somebody else to give himâ an assessment of the former vice-president as heâs given it numerous times already before calling the Obama administration a failure on North Korea.
The supplicancy the White House spokesperson showed in this interview, meanwhile, is hardly surprising. Just days earlier, she was one of a handful of senior White House aides Trump trotted out in front of the press to vouch for his calm demeanor and insist that he did not have a temper tantrum in a White House meeting with Democratic leader.