Sarah Sanders, deputy press secretary for the White House, is defending her boss from critics suggesting he is sexist.
In an email Wednesday to the Washington Examiner, Sanders said Sean Spicer, top spokesman for the Trump administration, treats all reporters equally and that much of the White House communications operation is run by women.
“The only pattern I am aware of is that he treats all reporters equally and fairly,” Sanders said. “Almost all of the press staff is female and I don’t know of any of them who would say Sean hasn’t treated us each with the utmost respect and to suggest he has something against women is outrageous and untrue.”
Sanders was reacting to a clash at Tuesday’s White House press briefing between Spicer and American Urban Radio Networks’ April Ryan, during which Spicer heatedly told her to “please stop shaking your head again.”
Some other reporters and viewers of the briefing said the comment was condescending to Ryan and appeared sexist.
During an interview Wednesday on CNN, Ryan said she would pay closer attention to Spicer’s treatment of female reporters, referring to a quote from Spicer over the weekend regarding a Politico reporter who wrote something critical about White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.
“She is an idiot with no real sources,” Spicer had said of the reporter, according to Breitbart News.
On CNN, Ryan said, “And, you know, at this point, I happen to be a black woman but I’m part of the press, so I guess this is part of a series of two women this week who have been in the news with something over the press secretary.”
She added that she would begin “looking more closely” at whether Spicer is treating women differently than her male colleagues in the press.
