Many years ago, disgraced Republican President Richard Nixon famously said, “People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got.”
Today, after former FBI Director James Comey testified that Donald Trump was a liar, Trump spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders piped up in Trump’s defense, telling reporters, “I can definitively say the president is not a liar.”
Translation: Donald Trump is a liar.
When Richard Nixon said he wasn’t a crook, it caused people to think of him as a crook. And now Trump’s spokesperson is saying her boss is not a liar. It certainly brings to mind that memorable moment from the Watergate saga.
By trying to negate Comey’s frame, Sanders actually reinforced it. Sanders’ statement is only going to bolster the (accurate) view that Trump is a liar.