Dr. Jeanine Downie told Fox News on Sunday that White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders should not be criticized for her appearance. Instead, Downie argued that Sanders should be held accountable for holding herself up as an evangelical Christian while lying for President Donald Trump.
During a segment about a Los Angeles Times columnist who body shamed Sanders as a "slightly chunky soccer mom," Downie accused the writer David Horsey of being sexist.
"I think it's sexism plain and simple," she said. "People need to comment on her job that she's doing. It doesn't have anything to do with her accent, it doesn't have anything to do with the spoofs I've heard about her weight. Sean Spicer is overweight. Nobody commented is on his weight."
"My problem with Sarah Huckabee Sanders," Downie continued, "I'm concerned about the level of her holding herself up as an evangelical, but yet, Trump is accused of having a 16 percent track record when it comes to telling true statements and mostly true statements. And she holds up what he's saying and she lies. Her cortisol level is rising. She's squirming as she lies sometimes."
Downie noted that Sanders "reads a Christian devotional apparently every day before she gets up to speak in front of the White House press corps."
"So as a Catholic, I'm looking at her and I'm concerned about her upholding Trump's lies," the Fox News guest added.
As the panel concluded, Political Science Professor Dr. Jeanne Zaino pointed out that complaints about sexism against Sanders could backfire on conservatives because of President Trump's history of crude and sexist remarks.
"He criticized Ted Cruz's wife for her looks, Carly Fiorina for her looks," Zaino said. "It doesn't give anybody the right to attack anybody. All I want to say is it's fair game on both sides. You cannot attack women for their looks."
