Republican strategist calls Sarah Huckabee Sanders ‘a congenital liar’ with a ‘shrivelled husk left in her soul’

The President's spokeswoman defended his use of the word 'Pocahontas'

A Republican political strategist has launched a scathing attack on White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders - saying she may only have a “shrivelled husk left in her soul” after defending Donald Trump’s use of a racial slur.

The President triggered widespread outcry when he used the word “Pocahontas” in reference to Senator Elizabeth Warren during a White House ceremony to honour Navajo military veterans. Ms Sanders later defended the President, saying people were more offended by Ms Warren’s “lying about her heritage to advance her career”.

Rick Wilson, a Republican strategist and frequent critic of the Trump administration, said he thought Ms Sanders knew she was not speaking the truth but had done so anyway.

“The reason she does that is because her job is contingent upon her being a serial congenital liar in defence of Donald Trump’s latest outrages,” he said on CNN.

“I mean, she probably has some like tiny, shrivelled husk left in her soul where she realizes this is the wrong thing to do. But she does it anyway because otherwise they’ll replace her.”

Mike Shields, a former senior aide at the Republican National Committee, sought to defend Ms Sanders, saying it was the job of all White House press secretaries to step behind the podium and advocate “on behalf of the president”.

Yet Mr Wilson was quick to double down his assault.

He said: “Few presidents go out and c*** on the dignity and legacy of people like these code talkers, these heroic veterans, and then send their press secretary out to answer questions in a way that isn’t saying, ‘Wow, the president regrets what he said today, he truly wishes he had not said that’.”

He said Ms Sanders sought to bury people under an “avalanche of horses***”.

“I get that’s her job,” he said. “The White House press secretary has to defend the indefensible. In very few other cases in our modern history, has the press secretary had to go out and defend someone who is slinging stuff that is demonstrably racially charged.”