White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders put forth a Herculean effort to distract from news of the first charges in the Russia investigation on Monday, by opening her press briefing with a convoluted, numbers-filled anecdote about beer and taxes that she said 鈥渨e can all understand.鈥�

Sanders took to the podium Monday afternoon and declared that she would open the briefing by 鈥渁ddressing a topic that I know all of you are preparing to ask me about 鈥� and that鈥檚 tax reform.鈥�

The joke was not lost on the gathering of reporters, who laughed at her attempt to deflect from questions about two former Trump campaign aides facing charges in special counsel Robert Mueller鈥檚 investigation. U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and Manafort鈥檚 aide, Rick Gates, were in court while the briefing took place to face several charges that include conspiracy against the United States.

Sanders used her opening remarks to speak at length about the Trump administration鈥檚 plans for tax reform, and sought to illustrate it using a numbers-filled anecdote about reporters and beer that she . During the four-minute anecdote, Sanders explained how much 10 reporters would pay for beers under various tax plans. She listed off those numbers several times, citing dollar-and-cent savings, percentage savings and differences between the various reporters鈥� bills.

鈥淭his is a silly story of course but it illustrates some important points,鈥� she said at the end of her explanation.

The beer anecdote has been circulating for years online, as Sanders acknowledged.

Many observers found it to be a laughable distraction from the news of the day, as they waited for the White House to respond to news of criminal charges against people who worked closely with the president.

鈥淚 think Sarah Sanders owes us all a beer for having us listen to that garbage,鈥� one user .