CNN’s Nia-Malika Henderson: White House Using ‘Whataboutism Excuse’ on Mueller Indictments
At today’s White House press briefing, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders distanced President Donald Trump and his 2016 presidential campaign from his former campaign chairman. In the wake of Paul Manafort’s 12-count indictment in the Mueller investigation, Sanders stated that Manafort was just brought on to handle the delegate process and was “dismissed not too long after that.”
During a CNN panel discussion this evening, CNN political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson explained that the Trump administration is attempting to use a “whataboutism” defense when it comes to dealing with questions surrounding the special counsel’s probe.
“He was the chairman of the campaign,” Henderson stated. “He was with the campaign from March until August. 4 1/2, 5 months with the campaign. At a really crucial time over the summer. As Donald Trump is wrapping up the nomination, he’s making sure that all the delegates stick with Donald Trump as he’s accepting the nomination.”
She continued, “They’re trying to use the ‘My name is Paul, and I don’t know y’all’ defense. You’ve seen them do that. They described [Michael] Flynn as a volunteer. They’re describing [George] Papadopoulos as a volunteer. With Papadopoulos it is true. Usually, when people join campaigns like that, they’re serving in a volunteer capacity.”
She then brought up some of the various tactics that both the White House and conservative media have used in recent days.
“They’re trying to use the whataboutism excuse,” she said. “What about Hillary Clinton. What about the dossier, they don’t have a great defense for this particularly not publicly, it’s essentially political spin, it’s not going to have any effect on the Mueller investigation, which seems really rock solid, not a lot of leaks. It’s a surprise to everybody today with the Papadopoulos thing.”
Watch the clip above, via CNN.
[image via screengrab]
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