The New Yorker profiled White House press secretary Sarah Sanders in a piece published Monday, and many are less than pleased with how the publication handled Sanders’ Christian faith,
The profile — which referred to Sanders as Trump’s “battering ram” and her father, former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, as a “virulent homophobe” — went into depth about Sanders’ evangelical beliefs and the role of her father in the formation of her faith, as The Daily Caller noted about the piece.
“Some of the campaigns she worked on were accused of stoking fears about immigrants,” author Paige Williams wrote near the top of the profile.
The article included this dismissive observation: “Sanders often appears to mistake journalism for stenography or cheerleading — she sometimes tells the media what to ‘celebrate,’ such as the state of the economy. Sometimes, when confronted with the fact that reporting is often adversarial, she reflexively mentions courtesy, seemingly not understanding that journalism is an exercise in democracy, not etiquette.”
The article continued, “I asked Sanders how she, as a Christian, reconciles her religious beliefs with her support for Trump — a man whose presidency has been imperiled, in part, by his payment of hush money to a porn star with whom he allegedly committed adultery. Instead of a searching answer, she gave me what has become a pat rationalization of many American evangelicals.”
Related: Yes, Jesus Talks to Us — If We Have the Faith to Hear Him
It continued, “‘I’m not going to my office expecting it to be my church,’ she [Sanders] answered. ‘Frankly, if people of faith don’t get involved in the dirty process, then you’re missing the entire point of what we’re called to do. You’re not called to go into the places where everyone already thinks like you and is a believer — you have to go onto a stage where they’re not.’”
The writer noted that Sanders opposes gay marriage, “but isn’t a virulent homophobe like her father — he defends conversion therapy and says that gay relationships have an ‘ick factor.’”
In a tweet sent out Tuesday morning, The New Yorker highlighted a quote about the church Sanders attends that raised the hackles of some social media users.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders attends a D.C. church that is an affiliate of Hillsong, the global megachurch that teaches creationism and intelligent design. Sanders, asked if she shared these views, said, “I believe in the Bible.” https://t.co/ASibdWueke pic.twitter.com/hCV2icGEFD
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) September 18, 2018
“Sarah Huckabee Sanders attends a D.C. church that is an affiliate of Hillsong, the global megachurch that teaches creationism and intelligent design. Sanders, when asked if she shared these views, said, ‘I believe in the Bible,’” the New Yorker piece said.
This is disgusting. Shame on you, New Yorker.
— Michael Garner (@MikeGarner9) September 18, 2018
She goes to a church that teaches about God.
Wow, hard hitting journalism there.
— Robert (@Computron34) September 18, 2018
Hard hitting exposé guys congrats
— Colonel Jimenez (@ColonelJim3) September 18, 2018
Come on, why do you have to go here? Everyone looked the other way at BHO's church and pastor for years, but now it's cool? It's no wonder nobody trusts the media anymore. It's all garbage.
— James Brady (@jbrady_ct) September 18, 2018
See a more informal Sarah Sanders talk with her father in the video below.
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