Sarah Huckabee Sanders didn’t just refuse to say that the press is not the enemy of the people in Thursday’s “daily” press briefing at the White House. She accompanied that refusal with a series of reasons she sees the press as her own personal enemy. That’s typical for the Trump administration in two ways: Sanders fails to see that the question is not about her or her boss personally, but about the Constitution and democracy, and also her specific complaints were lies. The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake lays out Sanders’ dishonesty:
The media “said I should be harassed as a life sentence”
Nobody said Sanders should be harassed as a life sentence.
This refers to a TV appearance from Washington Post opinion blogger Jennifer Rubin. Rubin was actually saying that declining to serve Sanders at the Red Hen restaurant wasn't a fruitful course of action and that people should protest instead. Rubin said nothing directly about people “harassing” Sanders, although she did say being “uncomfortable” should be a “life sentence” for Sanders, for “lying” and “inciting” people against the press.
The media said “that I should be choked”
Nobody advocated for Sanders being choked.
This, like the Rubin example, again relies on a quite uncharitable version of events from conservative media. MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace (whose show I have appeared on, full disclosure) didn't call for choking Sanders, but instead asked a reporter if she ever want to “wring” Sanders's neck out of frustration. Wallace apologized for the choice of words, which again was hardly a call to action.
Also, Sanders blamed the media for comedian Michelle Wolf’s jokes—such as that Sanders crafts a “perfect smokey eye” out of lies—even though a parade of media figures had dutifully trotted out to be appalled at the jokes.
But there’s another reason Sanders sees the press as an enemy—because they at least occasionally call out her lies and those of her world champion liar of a boss. When you’re a professional liar, the truth is the enemy. When you think everything is about you and your boss personally, you can’t see that there are things that are more important than your dishonest fee-fees.