White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders did not want to lead the daily press briefing Monday, according to CNN, because she wanted to avoid answering questions about the Trump administration's widely criticized immigration policy, which includes separating children from their parents. Sanders denied this claim and said Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen was brought in because she wanted an "expert" on the topic.
Nonetheless, on "Late Night with Seth Meyers," the host staged a faux press briefing with Sanders to ask the secretary some of his burning questions.
"White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a lot of press briefings but I, for one, don't think they're asking all the questions we need answers to," Meyers said. "So we decided to hold another one, right here, right now. That's right, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the 'Late Night' press corps are here in our studio and ready to go. So without further ado, it's time for the 'Late Night White House Press Briefing.'"
The show panned between actual footage of Sanders at the White House answering reporters' questions and Meyers and his team mimicking journalists and pining for her focus.
"Sarah, over here, yes thank you," Meyers said. "Seth Meyers, 'Late Night with Seth Meyers,' Secretary Sanders, when are you going to start telling us the truth?"
"Not today, or tomorrow, or at any point ever," Sanders said.
For Sanders' responses for this segment, Meyers used answers that the press secretary had offered in the past, but to Meyers' questions, Sanders' replies were comically self-incriminating.
"Can you tell us a little bit about Eric Trump's birthday party?" Meyers asked next, his colleagues ferociously writing down notes.
"No one from the White House staff will attend," Sanders replied.
Meyers returned to Sanders. "Sarah, where do you see yourself in five years?" he wondered.
"Further from the truth," Sanders said.
Perhaps, the most biting interaction of the segment came when Meyers said, "President Trump seems to be fairly unfriendly to Angela Merkel. Was there ever a time when Trump liked Germany?"
"From 1942 to 1945," Sanders replied, the end of the Nazi regime. The audience gasped and booed, before eventually cheering for Meyers. After all, it explained a lot.
Meyers kept hitting hard on all the controversy close to Trump and his administration. "Why does President Trump want to meet with Vladimir Putin?" he asked.
"To accept the check," Sanders said.
Meyers even took several jabs at Trump's fitness abilities, or lack thereof, throughout his show Tuesday night. "What does Trump call one jumping jack?" he asked Sanders.
"The White House sports and fitness day," Sanders replied. Another question from Meyers asked her to describe the president's fitness regime, to which Sanders responded succinctly: "Cake."
In a separate segment during Meyers' monologue, he shared the news that "According to Politico, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has been going to the gym in the middle of the day. Well, that’s one sure way to not run into the boss," Meyers said, showing a picture of Trump.
But in the "Late Night" press briefing, Meyers dug in to Sanders. "Sarah, be honest, do you ever feel like you're a little passive aggressive?"
"I would be happy to answer it if you would stop talking long enough to let me [do] that," Sanders snapped. Meyers tried to mimic reporters' defensive demeanors in the press briefing but could barely contain his laughter after that response.
In the end, Meyers suggested he and Sanders switch roles. "Your turn; why don't you tell a joke," Meyers said.
"I work every single day to give you accurate and up-to-date information," Sanders said. And Meyers, the fake reporters around him and all of us belly-laughed. It was by far the funniest joke of the night.
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