Sarah Huckabee Sanders is said to be 'tired of taking on water for something she doesn't believe in' as Trump administration wades through immigration battle
- White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has reportedly become "tired" of being the face of some of the controversial policies emerging from the Trump administration.
- Sanders faced considerable blowback this week trying to defend the "zero-tolerance" immigration policy that leads to many immigrants being criminally prosecuted for crossing the border illegally.
- "She's tired of taking on water for something she doesn't believe in," one of Sanders's friends said to Vanity Fair.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has reportedly become "tired" of being the face of some of the controversial policies emerging from the Trump administration.
"She's tired of taking on water for something she doesn't believe in," one of Sanders's friends said to Vanity Fair.
"She continues to have a frustration that the policies are all over the map," another person familiar with the situation told Vanity Fair. "It's not a good look for Sarah."
Similar to her predecessor, Sean Spicer, Sanders developed a tenuous relationship with members of the White House press corps during her tenure. As one of the Trump administration's principal representatives, Sanders is frequently tasked with defending many of Trump's sometimes-controversial pronouncements.
As a result, Sanders has also become increasingly combative with reporters who cover the administration.
This week, after the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy went into effect, Sanders defended the practice of criminally prosecuting migrants who cross the US-Mexico border and the forced separation of their children. The policy has been condemned by lawmakers from both parties and galvanized civil-rights groups to action.
The ongoing backlash apparently kept Sanders largely out of public view a second day in a row on Wednesday. There was no on-camera press briefing at the White House. There was no such briefing on Tuesday either.
On Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen faced pointed questions over the zero-tolerance policy.
Earlier in June, White House sources told CBS News report that Sanders told friends she planned to leave the administration at the end of the year. Sanders criticized the report, but stopped short of denying it.