Sarah Sanders comes out of hiding to spend 15 minutes dodging questions

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders returned to the White House briefing room podium on Monday after a 42-day-long hiatus — and in the process reminded Americans why they likely didn’t miss her when she was away.

After ceding the podium to the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget to go over Trump’s cruel budget cuts that would hurt American families, Sanders then returned and evaded almost every question she faced.

She repeatedly refused to say whether Trump believes Democrats hate Jews — which he suggested at a news conference last week, as well as in a private fundraiser with high-dollar Republican donors over the weekend.

And when she refused to give a yes or no response, Sanders responded with this doozy: Trump, she claimed, has “been incredibly clear and consistently and repeatedly condemned hatred, bigotry, racism in all of its forms.”

Sarah Huckabee Sanders does not answer whether President Trump truly believes Democrats hate Jews https://t.co/owiObqeWr1 pic.twitter.com/S4SnohYsSu

— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 11, 2019

That is a complete lie.

Trump has called Mexican immigrants “rapists” who “bring crime,” he mocked a disabled reporter, he suggested a judge of Mexican heritage could not be impartial, he tried to ban all Muslims from entering the U.S. — and he famously refused to condemn marching Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, saying that the group of white supremacists who chanted “Jews will not replace us” actually had some “very fine people” in its midsts.

Sanders even tried to say Trump called out Republican members of Congress like GOP Rep. Steve King (R-IA) for their racist remarks, when Trump himself has not done anything of the sort.

In fact, it was Sanders who made the remark condemning King, while Trump himself has been silent.

Republicans also deserve little credit for condemning King, who remained a member of the GOP caucus in good standing despite making years of virulently racist remarks. The party only condemned King after the 2018 midterms, when King nearly lost re-election to a Democrat in his otherwise strong Republican district, and thus became a liability for the GOP. Before that, however, Republicans were happy to pal around Iowa with King and beg for his endorsement.

That wasn’t Sanders’ only ridiculous remark, however.

She casually repeated the GOP’s dangerous lie that Democrats support infanticide, and blamed Congress for the high deficits in Trump’s new budget.

She also refused to comment on the hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels that Trump reimbursed Michael Cohen for.

And she declined to comment on why Trump has yet to rule out a pardon for his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who was just sentenced to nearly four years in prison — and could get even more jail time at a second sentencing hearing on Wednesday.

President Trump will make a decision about a potential pardon for Paul Manafort "when he's ready," Sarah Huckabee Sanders says https://t.co/owiObqeWr1 pic.twitter.com/HMDqaZlXBQ

— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 11, 2019

Instead, Sanders said Trump will make a decision on a Manafort pardon “when he’s ready.”

In all, Sanders’ briefing was a complete waste of time. She lied, obfuscated, and hurled offensive insults at Democrats.

Yes, it’s her job to hold daily briefings, and she’s been shirking that duty. But maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world if she’s absent from the podium instead of spewing vitriolic falsehoods every day.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.