White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) to spend “less time tweeting,” and to spend “more time doing” his job during a Twitter spat on Tuesday afternoon.
Sanders made the remarks about Lieu’s Twitter usage after President Donald Trump took to the social media platform to congratulate members of the House of Representatives for passing its version of the controversial Republican-led tax bill.
Congratulations to Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Kevin Brady, Steve Scalise, Cathy McMorris Rodgers and all great House Republicans who voted in favor of cutting your taxes!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2017
Sanders, as Trump’s press secretary, spends most of her on-screen time being forced to defend or refuse to defend various tweets written by the president, who sends out missives that gall half the nation on a daily basis.
Since Sanders took over as White House press secretary on July 21, Trump has tweeted 1,350 times–including retweets and tweets that were deleted–according to Trump Twitter Archive. That means, on average, Trump has tweeted nearly nine times per day since Sanders was named to her position.
The back-and-forth began when Lieu commented on remarks Sanders’ made on Fox & Friends where she said Democrats should have been “begging” to be part of the process to craft the Republican-led tax bill, which passed the House on Tuesday and was expected to be voted on by the Senate later in the day.
https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/943196180716183553
Lieu re-tweeted a post from The Hill, which has since been deleted, and accused her of “lying.” Sanders, in turn, called the tweet “incorrect” and berated the representative for his use of Twitter.
“Dear @tedlieu – I don’t serve in Congress, but I can read. If you had read the story, not an incorrect tweet, you would see that what I said was Dems should be begging to help Americans keep more of their money,” she wrote. “You should spend less time tweeting, more time doing your job.”
Dear @tedlieu – I don’t serve in Congress, but I can read. If you had read the story, not an incorrect tweet, you would see that what I said was Dems should be begging to help Americans keep more of their money. You should spend less time tweeting, more time doing your job. https://t.co/jI3W2a0xaQ
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) December 19, 2017
The irony of Sanders telling Lieu, and not Trump, to spend less time on Twitter was not lost on the California congressman.
“Dear @PressSec: If the Hill tweet was incorrect, then my tweet based on it would also be incorrect,” he wrote. “Unlike the Trump Administration, I am confident enough to admit errors. Also, I dare you to give the same tweeting advice you gave me to your boss.”
Dear @PressSec: If the Hill tweet was incorrect, then my tweet based on it would also be incorrect. Unlike the Trump Administration, I am confident enough to admit errors. Also, I dare you to give the same tweeting advice you gave me to your boss. https://t.co/EpcCV4VIiM
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) December 19, 2017
Sanders has yet to respond to Lieu’s request.