White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is facing widespread criticism after using an official Twitter account to complain about her Amazon Echo on Sunday.
Sanders tweeted that her 2-year-old child had managed to order a Batman toy, priced at $79.99, just by repeatedly yelling the action hero’s name at the device. Instead of tweeting from one of her two rarely used personal Twitter accounts, Sanders broadcast her complaint to the 2.53 million followers of @PressSec.
Alexa, we have a problem if my 2 year old can order a Batman toy by yelling "Batman!" over and over again into the Echo pic.twitter.com/7uF0d2fmD8
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) January 14, 2018
Not everyone was entertained by this seemingly innocent slip-up.
Is this official government news?
— HAW (@HAWofPA) January 15, 2018
https://twitter.com/Hokibil/status/952742506004967425
Trying to humanize yourself via your official government account is extremely obvious. Again a charade.
— Wendy Warren (@Mizz8645) January 15, 2018
More than just provoking the ire of the Twitterati, Sanders received a stern warning from former White House ethics chief Walter Shaub, who pointed out the complications that can arise from this kind of gaffe.
https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/952646449963073537
https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/952648124220231681
The @PressSec handle is managed by the White House and is handed down through administrations. Before Sanders operated the handle, former press secretary Sean Spicer ran it. Josh Earnest used it under the Obama administration.
Tweets from official accounts like @POTUS or @PressSec are archived by the National Archives and Records Administration under a new handle which corresponds by number to the president. For example, you can check out what was tweeted on a given date by Earnest as press secretary under the 44th president by searching for @PressSec44.
That’s all to say, whether Sanders likes it or not, the story of her kid and his accidental Amazon order is already set to go down in American history.
H/T the Hill