Sarah Huckabee Sanders blames Chicago crime on a lack of 'morality' there

Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders held an off-camera press briefing on Friday, saying that the press office doesn't want to overshadow an announcement of a new executive order by President Donald Trump.

However, in her short 16-minute appearance off-camera, Sanders managed to blame the people of Chicago for the city's high crime rate, saying "morality" is the issue, not poverty or ready access to firearms.

A reporter asked about the federal government's decision to garrison an additional 20 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Chicago and whether this was a tacit admission by the government that part of the problem in that city is related to the easy access to firearms.

"I think that the problem there is pretty clear that it's a crime problem," said Huckabee Sanders. "I think that crime is driven more by a morality than anything else so I think that this is a law enforcement issue and our focus is trying to add additional support."

The remarks echo her father's statements in 2016 saying that racial injustice in the U.S. is "a sin problem, not a skin problem" before asserting that "all lives matter," whereas the Black Lives Matter movement "is elevating some lives above others."

Listen to comments, which begin around the 11 minute mark, embedded below: