If you ask Sarah Sanders a dumb question, you’re going to get a dumb answer. That’s what the Washington Post learned after the White House press secretary trolled the paper with an epic comeback when it asked her to comment on WH chief of staff John Kelly’s…face.
“[Kelly] was displeased because he was expecting a full breakfast and there were only pastries and cheese,” Sanders sarcastically replied when asked why Kelly wasn’t smiling at the NATO breakfast where President Trump smacked down NATO members for not paying their fair share of the alliance’s defense budget.
President Trump earned raves from millions of Americans for standing up for the U.S. taxpayer at the NATO breakfast. Trump said it’s unfair that the United States pays 70% of NATO’s defense spending while other members shirk their financial responsibilities and mooch off American taxpayers.
In response, the Washington Post and other Trump-hating media chose to do a detailed analysis of John Kelly’s facial expressions during the breakfast (see video above).
Kelly, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, usually has a stern-looking facial expression in his everyday life. It’s unclear why the media thought he should have been gleefully smiling at a breakfast summit where serious matters were discussed.
The Washington Post spoke to several “body-language” experts who claimed that Kelly’s stern facial expressions suggest he’s “displeased” and “irritated” by President Trump’s comments.
But if he were, who cares? Trump is Kelly’s boss — not the other way around. The story was a transparent attempt by the media to sow division within the Trump administration.
In a statement to The Post, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "[Kelly] was displeased because he was expecting a full breakfast and there were only pastries and cheese." https://t.co/azDbYtgy20
— Robert Costa (@costareports) July 11, 2018
Predictably, liberals were triggered by Sarah Sanders’ sarcastic response to a question about her boss’ breakfast facial expressions.
Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff was apparently absent the day they taught sarcasm at school.
I suspect General Kelly knows full well the damage that Trump is doing to the institutions that have kept the peace in Europe for 70 years. Many others in the GOP do as well.
We don’t need them to roll their eyes. We need them to take a stand. Silence is complicity. https://t.co/xWS7B2177S
— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiff) July 11, 2018
Manu Raju, who works at CNN, joked about making stuff up. Psst, Kettle…It’s Pot!
Ya can't make it up. https://t.co/m1Ph2MIW32
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 11, 2018
Humorless CNN analyst Josh Rogin said Sanders’ statement was “not funny” at all.
Trump trashing alliances for no reason is not a joke and not funny. https://t.co/Y0qNidwyKu
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) July 11, 2018
The reaction of people who got the joke (i.e., that Sanders was annoyed at having to respond to a ridiculous question about why someone was not smiling at a NATO breakfast) was hilarious.
This is a real quote, and it's magnificent. https://t.co/d1lRaGiGUV
— Tom Gara (@tomgara) July 11, 2018
https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1017139911605080064
Hahahahahaha!!!! I really, REALLY love SHS, and how she deadpan trolls the MSM. It is everything… https://t.co/WoQ8C0uPur
— Amyks “UGLY CHUMP” (@k_amyks) July 12, 2018
Fortunately, Sarah Sanders and her staff shrugged off inane media questions and posted this cheerful photo from Brussels.
Team Trump in Brussels, Belgium for #NATOSummit. pic.twitter.com/KM5IHjoyQY
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) July 11, 2018
As BizPac Review previously reported, President Trump smacked down deadbeat NATO members for demanding U.S. military protection against Russia while they blithely pour billions into Russia’s pockets with lucrative energy deals.
NATO is a 29-member military alliance whose purpose is to protect Europe from Russia. It was formed after the two world wars at the height of the former Soviet Union’s imperialism.
Trump specifically called out Germany — which cowers in the face of Russia and demands that the U.S. antagonize Vladimir Putin — all while making Russia richer by depending on it for its energy needs.
The U.S. contributes over $700B to NATO's 2018 budget. Who comes 2nd? The UK, at $65.1B (so you have the US at over 70%, while the next behind it at only ~6.5%). Explain why U.S. taxpayers should fund defense of 28 other countries, of which only 4 meet the 2% req't. #FactsMatter pic.twitter.com/9WUrbgdhg5
— Emma Muhleman CFA CPA (@Emma_cfa) July 12, 2018
The United States is paying 70% of the NATO defense budget even though it provides most of the defense. This is how it has been for decades because previous presidents refused to stand up for the U.S. taxpayer and demand that NATO members pay their fair share.
The U.S. does not need the protection as much as European nations do because it’s on a different continent and is therefore not geographically threatened by Russia.
President Trump noted, “[The United States] is supposed to protect Germany, but they’re getting their energy from Russia. Explain that. It can’t be explained.”
Trump lays down law, says pay up now, at testy NATO breakfast: ‘Germany is totally controlled by Russia’ https://t.co/yxMf5cLrSe pic.twitter.com/8OS7YdeLMY
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) July 11, 2018
P.S. – Obama said the same thing about deadbeat NATO members in April 2016. Where was the media outrage?
This is what Obama said in a speech in Germany in April 2016. Virtually the identical message as Trump, but not in the form of crass oddly-capitalized tweets, so it wasn't an international crisis https://t.co/lhK6E8tiqh pic.twitter.com/efOJbypdX0
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) July 12, 2018
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