White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday afternoon defended the President’s legal threats against the author and publisher of a new book about his campaign and administration and insisted that President Donald Trump does believe in the First Amendment.
“The President absolutely believes in the First Amendment. But as we’ve said before, the President also believes in making sure that information is accurate before pushing it out as fact when it certainly and clearly is not,” Sanders said when asked about the legal threats and whether Trump believes in the First Amendment.
A lawyer for Trump on Thursday morning sent cease and desist letters to author Michael Wolff and publisher Henry Holt, demanding that they stop printing and releasing Wolff’s forthcoming book about the Trump campaign and administration, “Fire and Fury.” Excerpts from the book published this week paint Trump’s campaign and administration in an unflattering light. The book also quotes former White House adviser Steve Bannon criticizing Trump and his campaign.
Trump’s lawyer, Charles Harder, sent a letter to Bannon on Wednesday night, threatening to sue him over his comments to Wolff. Harder was the lawyer who represented former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan in his legal quest against Gawker. Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker ultimately forced the gossip news website to shutter.
For himself.
Not for himself.
“…but, for G-d’s sake, don’t even get him started on that Twenty-Fifth one!”
What she means is that Short-Fingered Vulgarian has a First Amendment right to ruin the life and reputation of anyone who says something he doesn’t like.
To paraphrase Neil DeGrasse Tyson…
The good thing about the First Amendment is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.
“The 1st Amendment is very important because it is the first! So it is very very great and strong, because when it became Number One, that meant that it was very very strong and important, and I understand that! They did a terrific job making those Amendments so when they picked the First One, they picked the best! It’s very very terrific and so many people tell me it is, so it must be!”
(pulls lip, rolls eyes, stands up, sits down, asks for a Diet Coke, leaves the room, comes back in, asks if he can have some cake…)