Don’t You Dare Feel Bad For Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Don’t You Dare Feel Bad For Sarah Huckabee Sanders

As President Donald Trump was halfway across the country holding a safe space rally in which he got to soak up the adulation of MAGA Nation while he lobbed out grenade after grenade at his perceived political enemies, the White House Correspondents Dinner was taking place in Washington. And as you’ve probably heard by now, comedian Michelle Wolf made some mean jokes at the expense of White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and it’s caused some major pearl-clutching and scolding from VERY SERIOUS PEOPLE.

So what did Wolf say about Sanders that had everyone searching for their fainting couches? Take a look:

“I actually really like Sarah. I think she’s very resourceful,” Wolf said during one joke about Sanders. “She burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smoky eye. Like maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies. It’s probably lies.”

Apparently, that was an attack on Sanders’ appearance, though I’m not sure how “perfect smoky eye” is a vicious slam on the press secretary’s looks.

“And I’m never really sure what to call Sarah Huckabee Sanders, you know? Is it Sarah Sanders, is it Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is it Cousin Huckabee, is it Auntie Huckabee Sanders? What’s Uncle Tom but for white women who disappoint other white women? Oh, I know. Aunt Coulter,” the comedian snarked in another shot at Sanders.

This is more of a groaner as Wolf tried to fit too much into a joke about Sanders’ name. But again, this seems to be fair game. She’s comparing Sanders to on-again/off-again Trump supporter Ann Coulter, who is known for her inflammatory rhetoric and trollish behavior, noting that Sanders herself is not much different than the right-wing provocateur.

Wolf also made a pretty on-point observation about the gladiator-like White House press briefings:

“Every time Sarah steps up to the podium, I get excited, because I’m not really sure what we’re going to get. You know, a press briefing, a bunch of lies or divided into softball teams. ‘It’s shirts and skins, and this time don’t be such a little b—-, Jim Acosta!’”

Naturally, with several journalists hrumphing over the way poor SHS was handled, the press secretary’s pops saw the opening to play the victim card on Sunday morning:

Yep, that’s the same Huckabee who spends the majority of his time cracking unfunny ‘jokes’ about Democrats and the press.

And, of course, the president also had his say, live-tweeting Fox & Friends to suggest that Fox News ‘comedian’ Greg Gutfeld be given a chance to host the WHCD, presumably to sneer at the mainstream media while cracking jokes about liberal snowflakes or something.

It is an absolute certainty that Fox News and the rest of conservative media is going to spend an inordinate amount of time whining about this over the next several days. We’ve already seen it on Fox & Friends and one can only imagine what it will be like when Hannity, Gutfeld and Tucker get a hold of this.

But don’t play this game with them. The president spends much of his time calling the media “the enemy of the people,” and Sanders is his key mouthpiece in delivering this message. During her press briefings, she bounces between tossing out misinformation/lies and roundly demeaning the press corps. So she took a little well-deserved heat at an event her boss was too scared to attend? Cry me a river.

In the end, victimization is at the core of Trumpism. It has always been a mainstay of conservative politics as a whole, but in the Age of Trump, it has been ramped up to 11. Everything is about the airing of grievances and complaining nonstop. It is all about saying “Stop being mean to me!!!” while simultaneously tossing out slams and potshots. It is about labeling liberals and progressives intolerant snowflakes while staying ensconced in their own media bubbles.

Don’t you dare feel sorry for Sarah Sanders. Don’t you dare do it.

Justin Baragona

Justin Baragona is the founder/publisher of Contemptor and a contributor to The Daily Beast. He was previously the Cable News Correspondent for Mediaite and prior to starting Contemptor, he worked on the editorial staff of PoliticusUSA. During that time, he had his work quoted by USA Today and BBC News, among others. Justin began his published career as a political writer for 411Mania. He resides in St. Louis, MO with his wife and pets.

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