Sarah Huckabee Sanders Answers “Where is President Trump Hiding His Tax Returns?”-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had a perfect answer when asked by a reporter, “Where is President Trump Hiding His Tax Returns?”
The Truth:
A political joke that began circulating before Sarah Huckabee Sanders was named press secretary has been mistaken for a real encounter between her and White House reporters.
It’s not clear where the “Where is President Trump Hiding His Tax Returns?” joke started, but it began circulating in forwarded emails during the summer of 2017. In the original version, then-Press Secretary Sean Spicer was reportedly the person who had a witty response to a reporter who posed the question about the president’s tax returns:
At a recent press conference, a reporter with MSNBC hollered from the press corps,
“Where is President Trump hiding his tax returns?”
Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, astutely responded, “We’ve found a very secure place and I’m certain they won’t be found.”
“And just where is that?”, said the reporter, sarcastically.
Mrs. Sanders grinned sardonically and said, “They are underneath Obama’s college records, his passport application, his immigration status as a student, his funding sources to pay for college, his college records, and his Selective Service registration.
“Next question?”
By September 2017, the joke had been updated. Spicer resigned his post and Huckabee Sanders took over, the joke was updated to reflect that. At some point, the joke was lost on many who believed the exchange actually occurred.
We couldn’t find any record of Spicer or Huckabee Sanders answer the question, “Where is President Trump Hiding His Tax Returns?” in transcripts of White House press briefings. For those reasons, we’re calling this one “fiction.”