Former White House Anthony Scaramucci on Sunday insisted that White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders is 'trying her hardest to tell the truth' even though she continues to make false statements.
On CNN's Reliable Sources, host Brian Stelter reported that Sanders had repeated the false claim that journalists divulged secret information which made it more difficult to catch terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.
"This has never happened before," former Clinton Press Secretary Joe Lockhart explained. "We've never had anything like this where a president, we have a president who is incapable of telling the truth. The Washington Post averages something like seven and a half to eight lies day."
"The job of the press secretary even with an honest president is very, very hard," he continued. "You're balancing the interests of the president's political fortunes and the government with the press and the public's right know things. It is hard. I think with both Sean Spicer and Sarah Sanders they have crossed the line here where they now, the facts don't matter and they reflect the boss."
Lockhart argued that Sanders has "now gone beyond the point of being in a tough situation with a hard boss."
"She's now aiding and abetting the process," the former press secretary said. "The process is designed to undermine the public confidence in the one tool they have to keep the government accountable."
Scaramucci, who was fired after only hours in the White House, disagreed with the notion that Sanders is lying on purpose.
"Well, we're going to have to disagree on her personally and what her character is and what her principles are," Scaramucci insisted. "I think she's very different from Sean Spicer. Literally like night and day. She's trying her hardest to tell the truth to the American people."
"Is she trying hard?" Stelter asked. "When she got up there and lied about bin Laden, she never corrected it."
Scaramucci, however, dodged the question.
"This is damage we're going to live with for a long time," Stelter lamented.
