Washington (CNN) On Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked what President Trump meant when he appeared to be advocating a heightened level of rough treatment of criminals in a speech last Friday to police on Long Island.

"I believe he was making a joke at the time," she responded.

That explanation is in keeping with a broader strategy of this White House, that when Trump says or does something that causes controversy -- and which any other president would apologize for -- the explanation is always that he was joking.

Let's start with Trump's speech. Here are the lines in question: "When you see these thugs thrown into the back of a paddy wagon. You see them thrown in, rough. I said, 'Please don't be too nice,'" Trump said.

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