White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders added another term to the Trump administration lexicon Monday when, during an exchange with CNN reporter Jim Acosta, Sanders referred to the media’s interest in the Russia investigation as “Russia fever.” Following reports that the president ordered the special prosecutor leading the Russia investigation to be fired for vague reasons, Sanders said that the administration isn’t actually applying pressure on Mueller or trying to discredit him and his team. They just want the story over and done with so they can focus on national security and Making America Great Again:
“The only thing the president has applied pressure to is to make sure we get this is resolved so that you guys and everyone else can focus on the things that Americans care about. And that is making sure everybody gets the Russia fever out of their system once and for all [and] that you’re all reminded once again there was no collusion.”
Sanders later added that the White House had gone “above and beyond” to accommodate the special counsel’s investigation by supplying documents and making people available for interviews.
People on Twitter quickly latched onto the turn of phrase to point out that the investigation had already netted guilty pleas and sounded a lot like the sort of thing Richard Nixon used to say, among other things.
"This Russia fever" has — so far — produced 2 guilty pleas (for lying to the FBI) and 2 indictments of individuals spanning from:
– the former natl security adviser
– a former campaign chair
– a campaign aide
– and a campaign adviser https://t.co/TDDe2iVqXJ— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) January 29, 2018
Today in the daily briefing, @PressSec says the WH hopes everyone will get Russia fever out of their system. https://t.co/lyUPUEI04q
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) January 29, 2018
(Via WhiteHouse.gov)