Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Press secretary’s baking claims might just be pie in the sky

By Kurtis Lee Tribune News Service

Did she bake the pie or not?

It’s a question only White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders can answer. It’s also a sign of where our polarizing politics have taken us in 2017.

In a year when questions about possible Russian collusion, voter fraud and the legitimacy of a proposed travel ban have clouded President Donald Trump’s administration, the political discourse is now – briefly – centered on a holiday culinary ritual.

On Thursday, Sanders tweeted a photo of a chocolate pecan pie with a brief message:

“I dont cook much these days, but managed this Chocolate Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving at the family farm!”

And this is where the controversy began.

Sanders’ pie was pictured against a white background, and Twitter users – many partisans on the left, but also a journalist – wanted to see the pie in a more realistic setting. In Sanders’ kitchen, perhaps, or at her dinner table.

April D. Ryan, Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks, skeptically tweeted, “Show it to us on a table.”

The tweet led to the hashtag #piegate trending on Twitter for several hours Thursday and Friday. Those on the right mostly viewed the spat as minor and silly, while those on the left continued to press for legit pie proof.

Indeed, on the surface the pie matter seems trivial, but it also speaks to the credibility of an administration and a president who have faced repeated questions about truthfulness, said longtime Republican strategist John Weaver.

“At times, what we’ve found with this administration is a president, and even lower-level staffers, who are willing to lie about issues big and small. … It’s now come to the point where some are even willing to question the legitimacy of a pie,” said Weaver, who was an adviser to Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.

“When the administration is not truthful, it causes concern,” Weaver said. “When there is a crisis, can the American people believe the Trump administration? I think some will pause, and they’ve been given reason to pause.”

In a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 65 percent of Americans surveyed said they didn’t think Trump was honest and trustworthy. That figure increased from 58 percent in April.

The partisan divide is stark. Seventy-six percent of Republicans polled said they viewed Trump as trustworthy, compared with 23 percent who did not. Meanwhile, 90 percent of Democrats said they did not view Trump as trustworthy, while 8 percent did.

As for Sanders, she had a response to Ryan, the journalist who asked to see the pie on a table: Sanders said she would bake Ryan a pie in the days ahead.