White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders reiterated Tuesday that President Donald Trump's suggestion last week that law enforcement not be "nice" to crime suspects was a joke and not an endorsement of police brutality.
"You guys are jumping and trying to make something out of nothing," Sanders told reporters at the daily briefing. "He was simply making a joke and it was nothing more than that."
In a speech to law enforcement Friday about efforts to destroy the violent MS-13 street gang, President Trump said that officers shouldn't be "nice" to suspects by shielding their heads as they are lowered, handcuffed, into police cars.
The White House later said the remark was a joke, though it brought strong rebukes from groups ranging from the International Association of Chiefs of Police to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
Acting Drug Enforcement Administration administrator Chuck Rosenberg told employees to disregard Trump's remarks in an email on Saturday.
"It wasn't a directive," Sanders said of the president's comments. "It was a joke.
"There's a very big difference."
Asked whether Trump had any remorse about his remarks in light of the backlash, Sanders said: "The president supports our law enforcement and he supports the protection of the citizens of this country.
"He wants to empower our law enforcement to be able to do their job.
"I don't think there's anything beyond that."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.