Less than 24 hours after an Islamic terrorist carried out an attack on the streets of New York City, the White House has scrambled to come to a consensus on a united narrative. After Donald Trump responded to the news multiple times since the incident took place, Sarah Huckabee Sanders addressed the situation at the White House.

Sanders on NYC attack

During a Halloween day in New York City on Tuesday, Sayfullo Saipov, originally of Uzbekistan, drove his rented Home Depot truck onto a bicycle path in lower Manhattan, striking dozens of innocent people, leaving eight dead in the process.

Once stopped, Saipov exited the truck while shouting "Allahu Akbar," a common Islamic phrase used by terrorists, before being shot and taken into custody by law enforcement. Since then, authorities have confirmed that the shooter was in possession of ISIS-related propaganda, and has been celebrating his actions and attack in his hospital bed. The reaction following the attack came quick and was predictably partisan. Donald Trump took to Twitter to call for "extreme vetting," due to Saipov coming to the United States in 2010 on a "diversity visa lottery program." The president deflected the blame on Democrats for promoting the program, with a special focus on Sen. Chuck Schumer. As reported by NBC News on November 1, Sarah Huckabee Sanders faced questions from the media during a press briefing at the White House.

While speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended Donald Trump's reaction to the Islamic terrorist attack that took place on Tuesday.

When asked why the president was quick to politicize the attack, Sanders replied, "This isn't a new argument. This isn't a new position." "The president has been talking about extreme vetting and the need for that for the purpose of protecting the citizens of the country since he was a candidate," Sanders said.

When asked about Donald Trump's Twitter attack on Chuck Schumer of the visa lottery program, Sarah Huckabee Sanders pushed back despite the president's clear explanation in his tweet.

"The president has not blamed Senator Schumer, and doesn't feel that the senator is responsible for the attack," she claimed. Sanders was then asked about Trump's previous comments where he hinted that he would want to send the suspect to Gitmo, to which she answered, "He supports that but wasn't necessarily advocating for it."

Twitter reacts

Within minutes of her press briefing, Sarah Huckabee Sanders was met with massive backlash from those who oppose Donald Trump and the current administration.

"The fact that we, as taxpayers, pay (SHS) to stand there and lie to us (badly) every day is so incredibly frustrating," one tweet read.

"(SHS) just claimed that there's no vetting of the lottery immigration system.

And then yells at reporters for pushing back," another tweet stated. "(SHS) has crazy eyes," a Twitter user added.

"(SHS) if you were an immigrant and would have to come into the criteria that you're putting forth you wouldn't be let in," a follow-up post noted.

"Why does (SHS) frequently have to say 'look' before she proceeds with her answer," another tweet read. The negative response to Sarah Sanders continued, as the divide between those on the political left and right moved forward.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED