White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders believes God wanted her boss to become president of the United States.
"I think God calls all of us to fill different roles at different times, and I think that He wanted Donald Trump to become president," she said in an interview Wednesday with CBN News.
"That's why he's there, and I think he has done a tremendous job in supporting a lot of the things that people of faith really care about," she added.
The interview in her West Wing office with CBN News Chief Political Analyst David Brody and Senior Washington Correspondent Jennifer Wishon also touched on other issues. They included immigration, anti-Semitism, the morality of a border wall, persecuted Christians in Syria, the White House press briefings, the state of the Democratic Party and her Christian faith.
Asked about the anti-Semitic statements of some freshmen Democrats in Congress, she pointed to party leadership.
"Where's the leadership on the Democrats' side to call this out? It is unbelievable that this is going totally unchecked, totally off the radar of most of the mainstream media," she said.
Regarding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's view that a border wall is immoral, Sanders said "it's very hard at this point to even take a lecture from Democrats on what is moral and what isn't."
She cited the New York law passed last week allowing late-term abortion and the proposal this week to remove 'So help me God' from the oath taken by witnesses testifying before the House.
Sanders said "the idea that protecting the people of your country, which is the fundamental duty of being president of the United States would in some way be immoral is a ridiculous charge."
She said Trump will continue to have an active role in negotiations over funding the border well.
'Most conservative president ever'
Sanders addressed concerns that pulling U.S. troops out of Syria will put persecuted Christians, Kurds and other ethnic minorities at risk.
"The president's made clear that we support Christians, that we support the Kurds," Sanders said. "He's made that clear to Turkey, he's made that clear publicly on a number of fronts, and just one of the reasons that the president has been tough on Iran is to make sure that people don't feel threatened."
She said the administration has supported the safe zones, "and the idea that the president is just stepping away and ignoring any potential problem doesn't understand the fundamental decision that he's made."
She believes Trump is "the most conservative president that we've ever had."
"You look at the judicial nominations alone; I think that will be one of the greatest legacies that the president has after his eight years in office is how he has completely remade the judiciary and started to stop this activist court that we've started to see over the last eight years," she told CBN News.
"There's a reason evangelicals are sticking with the president, and that's because he's delivered on all the things he said he would do."
Seeking the 'gotcha moment'
She addressed the decision to drastically reduce the frequency of White House press briefings.
"Whether or not there's a daily press briefing, people in the administration, myself included, do regular interviews as I'm doing right now, after a lot of those interviews stop and take questions outside where anybody, any reporter is allowed to come and ask questions," Sanders said.
"I think the White House, in general, is the most accessible when it comes to the media."
She noted there was a briefing this week, but CNN and MSNBC didn't cover it.
"So, I think that the biggest thing is that they just want to complain and attack this administration and this president, and they don't want to cover all of the successes because that's not good for the narrative that they're trying to drive."
She said the "sole purpose" of many in the press corps "is to find this gotcha moment, to catch you."
"And I think if the briefing loses purpose and it isn't a good resource for the American people to get information and answers to real questions then you do have to wonder if that's the best form in order to put a message out."
Sanders said her Christian faith helps her every day.
"The goal is to be the best version of who God created us and who he called us to be," Sanders told CBN News.
"Some days I do that better than others, but the goal is always to be open about my faith. I think it's part of the reason it gives me a sense of calm when I'm in that room."
'Mommy guilt'
As the mother to three children under the age of seven, Sanders was asked if she struggles with mommy guilt.
"Oh, every single day," she said. "I mean, one of the hardest things I do every day is just go to work. My kids are clinging to me crying, 'why are you leaving, why are you going to work?' and to explain to a 6, 5, and 3-year-old what you do and why it's important is nearly impossible.
She said her "amazing" husband "keeps our whole life afloat and without him, and without that support system it would be totally impossible to do this job."
Sanders added that "at the same time I think it's so important for our kids to see us engage on things that matter."