Sanders Threatens To Wrap Briefing Early Over Non-Stop Questions About Transgender Ban
- 7 years ago
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders threatened to wrap up a press briefing early on Wednesday after she was continuously asked about President Trump’s decision to ban transgender service members from the military.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders threatened to wrap up a press briefing early on Wednesday after she was continuously asked about President Trump’s decision to ban transgender service members from the military.
Her warning came after reporter April Ryan asked what she would say to transgender Americans struggling with the new policy; Sanders replied, “As I’ve said before, and I’ll try to make this clear, this was a military decision. This was about military readiness. This is about unit cohesion. This was about resources within the military and nothing more.”
She added, “Guys, I really don’t have anything else to add on that topic. As I do, I’ll keep you posted. But if those are the only questions we have, I’m going to call it a day.”
However, Sanders ended up continuing the briefing by taking other, unrelated questions.
According to Talking Points Memo, her frustration may have arisen because, by that later point in the briefing, she had already “answered at least 10 different questions about President Donald Trump’s rationale for the new policy.”
Trump announced his decision earlier in the morning, tweeting, “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.”
He went on to say, “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you”.
The announcement has since been criticized by LGBT groups and some lawmakers.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders threatened to wrap up a press briefing early on Wednesday after she was continuously asked about President Trump’s decision to ban transgender service members from the military.
Her warning came after reporter April Ryan asked what she would say to transgender Americans struggling with the new policy; Sanders replied, “As I’ve said before, and I’ll try to make this clear, this was a military decision. This was about military readiness. This is about unit cohesion. This was about resources within the military and nothing more.”
She added, “Guys, I really don’t have anything else to add on that topic. As I do, I’ll keep you posted. But if those are the only questions we have, I’m going to call it a day.”
However, Sanders ended up continuing the briefing by taking other, unrelated questions.
According to Talking Points Memo, her frustration may have arisen because, by that later point in the briefing, she had already “answered at least 10 different questions about President Donald Trump’s rationale for the new policy.”
Trump announced his decision earlier in the morning, tweeting, “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military.”
He went on to say, “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you”.
The announcement has since been criticized by LGBT groups and some lawmakers.