White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday quipped that if her boss is a racist, "why did NBC give him a show for a decade?"
The comment came as she pushed back against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D., N.Y.) call for President Donald Trump to prove he is not a racist by supporting a bipartisan compromise on the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program. Trump rescinded the program last year and gave Congress six months to find a legal solution.
CBS host Stephen Colbert asked Schumer Monday about Trump's reported controversial remarks, which he has denied, during a discussion about immigration reform in the Oval Office last Thursday and whether he thought that Trump is a "racist."
"Look, his comments over and over and over again can be described as nothing but racist and obnoxious. He says he’s not a racist," Schumer said. "Actions speak louder than words. If you want to just begin the long road back to proving you’re not racist or bigoted, support the bipartisan compromise three Democrats and three Republicans put on the floor, everyone gave, and get the DREAMers safety here in America."
A reporter asked Sanders about Schumer's comments a night earlier, prompting her to call it an "outrageous claim," according to a clip first reported by Mediaite.
"Frankly, I think if the critics of the president were who he said he was, why did NBC give him a show for a decade on TV? Why did Chuck Schumer and all of his colleagues come and beg Donald Trump for money?" Sanders asked.
She went on to say that she thinks it is an "outrageous and ludicrous excuse" for Democrats to be claiming he is a racist when they wanted to be with him at events and fundraisers.
"They need to get onboard and start actually doing what they were elected to do," Sanders said.