White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to answer whether President Trump thinks slavery was wrong. Sanders was being questioned Wednesday by reporter April Ryan, who referenced White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s recent comments that it was a “lack of an ability to compromise” that led to the Civil War.
April Ryan: “Compromise, the issue of compromise. What is the definition of 'compromise' as it relates to slavery and the Civil War?”
Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders: “Look, I’m not going to get in and relitigate the Civil War, just like I told you yesterday. I think I’ve addressed the concerns that a lot of people had and the questions that you had, and I’m not going to relitigate history here.”
April Ryan: “There were a lot of questions still lingering when you left. So, and I’m going to ask the question again, and respectfully.”
Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders: “Why don’t you ask it in the way that you’re apparently accusing me of being”—
April Ryan: “I’m not accusing. I’m asking a question, Sarah, seriously. The question is: Does this administration believe—does this president believe slavery was wrong? And before you answer, Mary Frances Berry, historian, said, in 1860, there was a compromise. The compromise was to have Southern states keep slavery, but the Confederacy fired on Fort Sumter, that caused the Civil War. And because of the Civil War, what happened? The North won. There’s no slavery.”
Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders: “I think it is disgusting and absurd to suggest that anyone inside of this building would support slavery.”