White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders aimed her fire at CNN senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny on Monday for his network's claim that Sanders did not want to do the briefing that day.
Sanders was referencing a tweet from CNN's media reporter Oliver Darcy, who tweeted that Zeleny learned from a White House official alleged Sanders did not want to do the briefing amid questions on the Trump administration's child separation policy.
A White House official tells @jeffzeleny that @PressSec didn't want to do the briefing today amid questions on child separation policy, so @SecNielsen is being flown in from New Orleans to take questions.
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 18, 2018
"Jeff, I'll take your question since you and your network falsely accused me of not wanting to be here so I will be glad to pass that question on to you now," Sanders said.
"Why did you decide to have Secretary Nielsen answer questions instead of you?" Zeleny asked.
"I'm here answering questions as well but I thought it was important for the secretary and one of the primary experts on this process and the things that are going on to come out here and have the chance to speak to you and for you to be able to ask questions directly of her and the leaders in this administration. But I'm standing here in front of you," Sanders said.
Sanders began to call another reporter for a question before Zeleny said, "I have a real question."
"I wondered if you were going to throw it away," Sanders said with a laugh.
Zeleny's next question was about whether President Trump would sign a bill that closed loopholes that Nielsen blamed as the reason behind separations of children from their parents at the border, or if there needed to be a more comprehensive bill.
Sanders said that Trump "doesn't just want to see a band-aid put on this," and is committed to fixing the entire system.