Longtime White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is finally making her exit from the Trump administration, and her critics couldn’t be happier.
Social media erupted with glee Thursday when President Donald Trump announced that Sanders would be leaving the White House at the end of the month and returning to her home state of Arkansas.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had a contentious relationship with the media and was best known for her dogged support of President Donald Trump. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The longtime press secretary, who was appointed to the gig in 2017, was perhaps best known for her contentious relationship with the media and her dogged support of the president — even if it meant lying on his behalf.
“She is a very special person with extraordinary talents, who has done an incredible job!,” Trump wrote in a tweet. “I hope that she decides to run for Governor of Arkansas — she would be fantastic. Sarah, thank you for a job well done!”
The president didn’t immediately announce a successor to Sanders.
While those in the Trump administration expressed sadness over her departure, there were plenty of social media critics who bid her good riddance via the hashtag #ByeFelicia.
“Buh. Bye,” one Twitter user wrote. “You’ll be remembered as the worst of the worst Sarah. #ByeFelicia”
“Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the grotesquely rude pathological lying propaganda sycophant with no moral compass who proudly served a criminal is leaving our White House,” wrote another. “Good riddance. May she be shamed and shunned for the rest of her miserable days. #ByeFelicia”
One user reminded Sanders to “don’t let the door hit you in the a$$” on her way out, while other’s urged her to take embattled Trump official Kellyanne Conway with her.
“You lying heap of human garbage! Take the rest of the trash out with you!” one user exclaimed.
Sanders, who worked on the 2016 Trump campaign’s communications team before succeeding then-Press Secretary Sean Spicer in 2017, has come under tough criticism this year after essentially ghosting her role as spokeswoman for the president’s administration. As reported by CNBC, it has been more than three months since Sanders last held a press briefing.
“You will forever be known as the ‘Press Secretary’ who bilked the American people,” one Twitter user opined. “You were paid to give press conferences but stopped after being called out on your constant stream of lies!”
Another wondered if Sanders would be “refunding the 3 months of taxpayers money she received without working. To think she had secret service protection at additional costs to taxpayers also.”
Her credibility has also been called into question after many of her answers from the White House podium were inaccurate or in direct contradiction to public statements by Trump himself. In her most recent “faux pas,” Sanders claimed that “countless members of the FBI” expressed that they had lost confidence in now-fired FBI Director James Comey.
The press secretary later backtracked, saying her comments “weren’t founded on anything,” after special counsel Robert Mueller‘s report on the Russia probe ran counter to her characterization.
At a speaking event Thursday, Sanders said serving as press secretary had been an “honor” and the “opportunity of a lifetime,” according to CNBC. The wife and mom of three added that she “loved every minute, even the hard minutes,” of the job and that she would continue to be “one of the most outspoken and loyal supporters of the president and his agenda.”
Sanders also told the media she had no regrets about not holding more press briefings.
