Jon Karl Confronts Sarah Huckabee Sanders Over Trump ‘Picking A Fight’ With London’s Mayor

ABC’s Jonathan Karl sparred with Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders during Monday’s White House press briefing over President Donald Trump‘s Twitter posts that targeted the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

“Why is the President picking a fight with the mayor of London right after his city was hit by a terrorist attack?” Karl wondered.

Sanders replied, “I don’t see that the President is picking a fight with the mayor of London at all. I think, again, the President’s point is something he said…a year and a half ago, when the President talked about how we have to be more committed to national security. One of the reasons we have the travel ban here through that executive order is a focus on national security.”

Karl followed up by directly challenging one of Mr. Trump’s Twitter posts: “But the President was saying — the mayor said there was no reason to be alarmed by the terrorist attack. That is not what the mayor said. The mayor, in fact, said that the threat level remains severe. The chances of another attack are highly likely. He was saying, don’t be alarmed by the armed police presence on the street. And the President directly misrepresented what the mayor of London said.”

At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is "no reason to be alarmed!"

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2017

Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his "no reason to be alarmed" statement. MSM is working hard to sell it!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2017

The White House flack shot back, “I don’t think that’s actually true. I think that the media wants to spin it that way.” However, Karl interrupted before Sanders could complete her answer.

“You think that the mayor was saying there was no reason to be alarmed by an attack on his city? You think that’s what he was saying?” Karl inquired.

Sanders replied, “Look, the point is there is a reason to be alarmed. We have constant attacks going on…and we have to start putting national security and global security at an all-time high.”

You can watch the exchange between Karl and Sanders above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]