Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney (D) called White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders a liar over her claim that the Philadelphia Eagles pulled a “political stunt” by only offering to send a few players to a White House event that President Trump later canceled.
“What do you think the percentage of the White House press corps who sits in that room every day listening to Sarah Sanders — what percentage do you think believe [she’s] telling the truth?” Kenney said on CNN Tuesday.
“She lies from that podium every day, so I have really no reason to believe she’s telling the truth on that one,” he continued.
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Sanders had blamed the Eagles during a press briefing Tuesday for Trump’s decision to cancel the Super Bowl winners’ visit to the White House.
The Washington Post reported that only 10 to 12 players planned on attending the event.
“If this wasn’t a political stunt by the Eagles franchise, then they wouldn’t have planned to attend the event and then backed out at the last minute,” Sanders said at the briefing. “And if it wasn’t a political stunt, they wouldn’t have attempted to reschedule the visit while the president was overseas.”
Kenney said on CNN that he believes Trump’s decision to cancel the event is “a stunt” on Trump’s part.
“I think the president is playing the NFL like a fiddle and the Eagles are caught in the middle,” the mayor said. “He’s making it up as he goes along in an effort to divide this country more than he has already.”
Kenney slammed Trump as a “fragile egomaniac” over the cancellation earlier Tuesday.
Trump abruptly canceled the Eagles’ appearance at the White House on Monday, invoking NFL players’ protests during the anthem in his statement. However, no Eagles players kneeled during the anthem over the past season.
The White House held a brief “Celebration of America” event on Tuesday in lieu of the Eagles’ visit.