Trump says ‘fake news’ drove Sarah Sanders from the White House briefing room

President Trump said Tuesday that journalists reporting ‘rudely and inaccurately’ about Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has led her to appear less and less from the White House briefing room podium.

‘The reason Sarah Sanders does not go to the “podium” much anymore is that the press covers her so rudely & inaccurately, in particular certain members of the press,’ Trump tweeted. 

‘I told her not to bother, the word gets out anyway! Most will never cover us fairly & hence, the term, Fake News!’ 

A White House aide told DailyMail.com that Trump was ‘annoyed’ with Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley for saying an hour earlier that Sanders would ‘absolutely’ return to the briefing room whenever she wants to.

The president ‘had no problem stepping on him’ in a tweet, the aide said.

President Donald Trump said the reason his press secretary Sarah Sanders no longer regularly briefs reporters is because they cover the occasions ‘rudely and inaccurately’

Trump insisted that 'fake news' is to blame for Sanders' absence from the podium; she hasn't briefed the press there yet this year

Trump insisted that ‘fake news’ is to blame for Sanders’ absence from the podium; she hasn’t briefed the press there yet this year

Sanders began her tenure in mid-2017 with daily briefings that have since trickled off and become rare events

Sanders began her tenure in mid-2017 with daily briefings that have since trickled off and become rare events

Sanders deputy Hogan Gidley, who was her father Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign press secretary, said Tuesday on Fox News that she would 'absolutely' brief reporters again

Sanders deputy Hogan Gidley, who was her father Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign press secretary, said Tuesday on Fox News that she would ‘absolutely’ brief reporters again

Gidley had put a softer spin on Sanders’ absence from the briefings, saying an hour earlier that Trump himself speaks to the press so often that his chief spokeswoman doesn’t need to.

The press deputy, a former presidential campaign spokesman for Sanders’ father Mike Huckabee, also told ‘Fox & Friends’ viewers that White House reporters often demand a briefing from Sanders, only then to complain that they would rather hear from the president.

‘Sarah Sanders will absolutely be back to the podium talking to the press and delivering the message to the american people,’ Gidley said, adding: ”She’s going to come back when she finds a reason to do that.’ 

Speaking to Fox News from the briefing room, Gidley claimed that ‘the media often tell us when Sarah Sanders stands right behind me at this podium, “Why can’t we hear from the president? We need to hear more from the president?” So we put the president out. He speaks to the media every day, and then they say, “Why can’t we hear from Sarah Sanders?”‘ 

‘It’s kind of ridiculous. You can’t win for losing half the time.’ 

Sanders, like other high-profile White House spokespersons, often speaks to the press on the north driveway of the White House after she finishes television interviews. Those interactions typically last about three or four minutes. 

According to presidential historian Martha Joynt Kumar, who conducts her research in the White House alongside reporters, Trump has been the second most-accessible president in modern history, trailing only Bill Clinton in the number of direct interactions he has with the press.

President Trump has become his own most frequent spokesman, speaking to reporters nearly every time he leaves the White House on Marine One

President Trump has become his own most frequent spokesman, speaking to reporters nearly every time he leaves the White House on Marine One

Historian Martha Joynt Kumar reports that in modern times, only President Bill Clinton has had more direct interactions with reporters

Historian Martha Joynt Kumar reports that in modern times, only President Bill Clinton has had more direct interactions with reporters

Sanders, too, has to wade through a phalanx of journalists whenever she leaves the West Wing (in the background) to walk to stationary TV cameras near the White House's North Lawn

Sanders, too, has to wade through a phalanx of journalists whenever she leaves the West Wing (in the background) to walk to stationary TV cameras near the White House’s North Lawn

From Inauguration Day through January 10, Kumar reports, Trump spoke with reporters on 577 separate occasions. That includes 199 interviews, second only to Barack Obama’s 275.

Trump has conducted just 40 press conferences, however, the fewest of any president since Ronald Reagan at this point in his first term.

Gidley said on Tuesday that it’s Trump’s consistent exposure, not the media’s treatement of his boss Sanders, that has kept her out of the spotlight that lured her predecessor Sean Spicer on a daily basis.     

‘Sometimes we need to come to the podium to communicate things and sometimes we don’t. A lot of times we don’t come to the podium its because the president addressed the American people himself, whether on the way to Marine One,’ he said.

‘I mean, he’s the most accessible president in history. And most of the media in this room will tell you that.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk