[h=1]Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, 12/11/2017, #39[/h]
Jim.
Q And I would just say, Sarah, that journalists make honest mistakes and that doesn't make them fake news.
But the question that I --
MS. SANDERS: But when journalists make honest mistakes, they should own up to them.
Q We do.
MS. SANDERS: Sometimes -- and a lot of times you don't. But there's a difference -- there's a very big difference --
Q The President hasn’t --
Q This wasn’t going to be my question.
MS. SANDERS: I'm sorry, I'm not finished.
Q Okay.
MS. SANDERS: There's a very big difference between making honest mistakes and purposefully misleading the American people -- something that happens regularly. You can't say --
Q You mean like tweeting stuff on the Middle East --
MS. SANDERS: I'm not done. You cannot say --
Q He retweeted something that was completely fake, Sarah. Can he admit it?
MS. SANDERS: You cannot say that it's an honest mistake when you're purposefully putting out information that you know to be false, or when you're taking information that hasn't been validated, that hasn't been offered any credibility, and that has been continually denied by a number of people, including people with direct knowledge of an instance.
This is something that --
Q Are you speaking about the President?
MS. SANDERS: I'm speaking about the number of reports that have taken place over the last couple of weeks. I'm simply stating that there should be a certain level of responsibility in that process.
Q This was not --
MS. SANDERS: Brian, I called on Jim.
Q I know, I know.
Q This is not the line of questioning that I was going down, but can you cite a specific story that you say is intentionally false; that was intentionally put out there to mislead the American people?
MS. SANDERS: Sure, the ABC report by Brian Ross. I think that was pretty misleading to the American people. And I think that it's very telling that that individual had to be suspended because of that reporting. I think that shows that the network took it seriously and recognized that it was a problem.
Jim.
Q Sarah, if I may though, I was going to ask a question about something else.
MS. SANDERS: Well, you used it on something else.
Jim.
Q Well, Sarah, if I may, --
MS. SANDERS: Not today. We're going to keep moving, guys.
Q Sarah, if I can ask about the President's accusations --
Q The other Jim.
MS. SANDERS: I'm moving to a different Jim. I'm sorry.
Q I know, but I didn’t get a chance to ask the question that I wanted to ask, which is --
MS. SANDERS: Jim.
Q -- can you just say, once and for all, whether these accusations --
MS. SANDERS: Jim, I'm going to say, once and for all, that I'm moving on to Jim Stinson, and I'm not taking another question from you at this point.
Q Sarah, a question about investment -- investment taxes.
Q I think I was within my rights to respond to your attacks on the news media. If that's okay, I would like to ask the question that I had about these accusations of misconduct against the President. You said that he's denied them. Can you say whether or not they are false?
MS. SANDERS: I'm not going to respond to the other question. Go ahead, Jim.
Q Sarah, some investors are saying the tax reform package favors mutual funds over individual investors. Other critics who want tax reform say the bill will cause some tax increases for a few middle-class tax filers. By a few, I mean maybe tens of thousands, but maybe more.
Will the President sign the tax bill, even if there are inadvertent tax increases and some of the criticisms are correct?
MS. SANDERS: As I've said many times before, our focus and our priorities are making sure that we provide middle-class tax relief, and simplifying the code, bringing businesses back here to the U.S. We're going to continue pushing for that and continue working with Congress to make sure that we get the best tax package possible.
Jim.
Q And I would just say, Sarah, that journalists make honest mistakes and that doesn't make them fake news.
But the question that I --
MS. SANDERS: But when journalists make honest mistakes, they should own up to them.
Q We do.
MS. SANDERS: Sometimes -- and a lot of times you don't. But there's a difference -- there's a very big difference --
Q The President hasn’t --
Q This wasn’t going to be my question.
MS. SANDERS: I'm sorry, I'm not finished.
Q Okay.
MS. SANDERS: There's a very big difference between making honest mistakes and purposefully misleading the American people -- something that happens regularly. You can't say --
Q You mean like tweeting stuff on the Middle East --
MS. SANDERS: I'm not done. You cannot say --
Q He retweeted something that was completely fake, Sarah. Can he admit it?
MS. SANDERS: You cannot say that it's an honest mistake when you're purposefully putting out information that you know to be false, or when you're taking information that hasn't been validated, that hasn't been offered any credibility, and that has been continually denied by a number of people, including people with direct knowledge of an instance.
This is something that --
Q Are you speaking about the President?
MS. SANDERS: I'm speaking about the number of reports that have taken place over the last couple of weeks. I'm simply stating that there should be a certain level of responsibility in that process.
Q This was not --
MS. SANDERS: Brian, I called on Jim.
Q I know, I know.
Q This is not the line of questioning that I was going down, but can you cite a specific story that you say is intentionally false; that was intentionally put out there to mislead the American people?
MS. SANDERS: Sure, the ABC report by Brian Ross. I think that was pretty misleading to the American people. And I think that it's very telling that that individual had to be suspended because of that reporting. I think that shows that the network took it seriously and recognized that it was a problem.
Jim.
Q Sarah, if I may though, I was going to ask a question about something else.
MS. SANDERS: Well, you used it on something else.
Jim.
Q Well, Sarah, if I may, --
MS. SANDERS: Not today. We're going to keep moving, guys.
Q Sarah, if I can ask about the President's accusations --
Q The other Jim.
MS. SANDERS: I'm moving to a different Jim. I'm sorry.
Q I know, but I didn’t get a chance to ask the question that I wanted to ask, which is --
MS. SANDERS: Jim.
Q -- can you just say, once and for all, whether these accusations --
MS. SANDERS: Jim, I'm going to say, once and for all, that I'm moving on to Jim Stinson, and I'm not taking another question from you at this point.
Q Sarah, a question about investment -- investment taxes.
Q I think I was within my rights to respond to your attacks on the news media. If that's okay, I would like to ask the question that I had about these accusations of misconduct against the President. You said that he's denied them. Can you say whether or not they are false?
MS. SANDERS: I'm not going to respond to the other question. Go ahead, Jim.
Q Sarah, some investors are saying the tax reform package favors mutual funds over individual investors. Other critics who want tax reform say the bill will cause some tax increases for a few middle-class tax filers. By a few, I mean maybe tens of thousands, but maybe more.
Will the President sign the tax bill, even if there are inadvertent tax increases and some of the criticisms are correct?
MS. SANDERS: As I've said many times before, our focus and our priorities are making sure that we provide middle-class tax relief, and simplifying the code, bringing businesses back here to the U.S. We're going to continue pushing for that and continue working with Congress to make sure that we get the best tax package possible.
