I can understand why CNN might be chippy with the White House lately. They’ve been the focus of President Trump’s ire for a while now, his go-to when he starts ranting about fake news. And they certainly haven’t been helping their case of late. (This one looked pretty bad, too, honestly.)

And just today, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had to shut CNN’s Jim Acosta down for being out of line in his questioning (read: berating) about Trump’s continued cries of fake news when reporters make honest (?) mistakes.

But that wasn’t the only time Sanders had to contend with an increasingly hostile CNN reporter. Analyst Brian Karem asked Sanders in the same press conference Monday, as part of an inquiry into how the White House is responding to the women currently accusing Trump of sexual misconduct, if she (Sanders) had ever been sexually harassed, or if she had empathy for those that had.

Karem, in an odd start to his question, acknowledges that he understands what Sanders’ job is:
“I know your job is to relate what the president says…”.

Yes, indeed, Brian. That is her job. And she reiterates that back to you as she declines to answer your tasteless question. And, in the event you don’t understand why it was tasteless, let me explain it to you:

It’s none of your damn business.

Sanders, like many women, has likely faced harassment. As former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina put it recently, every woman she knows has been sexually harassed over the course of their careers.

Fiorina said she didn’t mean she had been raped or assaulted, but she had once been groped by a family friend.

“Was I propositioned? Of course,” she continued. “Was I introduced as a bimbo? Of course. Did I have, on occasion, men banging on my hotel room door and then lying about it the next morning? Of course. This is common occurrence, unfortunately, and that is my point.”

It’s something we deal with. I’d wager Sanders has, too. It’s just that some women — and I know this is hard to believe given the veritable avalanche of confessionals that have come out in recent months — prefer to handle their complications privately.

This is not to suggest the women that have come forward shouldn’t have revealed their stories. We all must deal with these things in the ways we see fit; in the ways that bring us healing. And we should all be respected for whatever decisions we make about it (within reason, of course). Sanders’ approach, as she reminded you, Brian — and anyone else for that matter — is that, as regards these matters, she has a job to do and she is “not here to speak about [her] personal experience on that front.”

Fair enough.

Oh, and for what it’s worth Brian, not bringing your personal hardships or biases into the office and maintaining composure in order to faithfully fulfill your job duties is called being a professional. You might take a lesson.