On Monday, a few hours after three women who have accused President Trump of sexual assault appeared on Megyn Kelly Today to share their stories, a reporter asked White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders whether she’s ever experienced sexual harassment. During the Monday press briefing, CNN’s Brian Karem said:
“As a woman standing up there talking to us, I know your job is to relate what the president says, have you ever been sexually harassed and do you understand — and I’m not saying by the president, I’m saying ever, and secondly, do you have any empathy for those who come forward? Because it’s very difficult.”
Sanders (understandably) declined to share her personal history of sexual harassment with a crowded room of journalists.
“I absolutely would say that I have an empathy for any individual who has been sexually harassed, and that certainly would be the policy of the White House,” she said. “I’m not here to speak about my personal experience on that front, but I’m here to relay information on behalf of the president.”
The press secretary has been widely criticized for shamelessly shoving the president’s agenda down the public’s throat, infantilizing the press corps, and possibly trying to pass off a stock photo of a pecan pie as her own, but even the most craven public servant doesn’t owe anyone information about whether they’ve been sexually harassed.
Watch the exchange here.