Sean Spicer: King of Alternative Facts

[GreyhoundFan]

Spicey, Spicey, Spicey... "Sean Spicer wants you to know that Trump’s golfing is strategic and/or not happening"

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President Trump seems to be getting a bit sensitive about his leisure activities.

When he was a candidate and, before that, an anti-Obama bomb-thrower on social media, Trump repeatedly criticized President Barack Obama for hitting the links.

On the campaign trail, he was explicit: Elect Donald Trump as president and the era of a president who goofs around on the golf course is over.

“I’m going to be working for you. I’m not going to have time to go play golf,” he said in Virginia last August. Obama has “played more golf than most people on the PGA Tour,” he said on the day before the election in New Hampshire. “What is it, over 300 rounds? Hey, look, it’s good. Golf is fine. But always play with leaders of countries and people that can help us! Don’t play with your friends all the time.”

Now that he’s president? Different tune.

...

The issue came up during the daily press briefing  Monday.

“In his first eight weeks in office, President Trump has made at least 10 trips to the golf course,” Yahoo’s Hunter Walker said to press secretary Sean Spicer. “He regularly used to criticize President Obama for spending time on the course. How is his golf game any different?”

“Well, I think two things,” Spicer replied. “One is I think you saw him utilize this as an opportunity with Prime Minister Abe to help foster deeper relationships in Southeast Asia — in Asia, rather, and have a growing relationship that’s going to help U.S. interests. How you use the game of golf is something that he’s talked about.”

“Secondly, he had a mini-Cabinet meeting two weekends ago down at his club in Virginia, and I remember so many people jumping to the conclusion that he’s going down and playing golf,” Spicer continued. “Just because you go somewhere doesn’t necessarily mean you did it. So on a couple of occasions, he’s actually conducted meetings there, he’s actually had phone calls. So just because he heads there, it doesn’t mean that that’s what’s happening.”

“I know he did meet Prime Minister Abe on the course,” Walker followed up. “But we’re not getting a lot of details on other high-level meetings that are taking place. If he is having these productive meetings on the course, why isn’t the president and his aides being a little more forthcoming about what he’s doing?”

“It’s the same reason that he can have dinner or lunch with somebody and not. … The president’s entitled to a bit of privacy at some point,” Spicer said. “Which is what we’ve always agreed to: We bring the protective pool to be there but the president’s also entitled to a bit of privacy as well.”

So just to run through those excuses:

1. Trump uses golf to foster deeper relationships.
2. Also, just because he’s at a golf course doesn’t mean he’s golfing.
3. Also? It’s none of your business.

Those are not strong rejoinders to Walker’s question. If Donald Trump travels to one of his golf clubs on a weekend morning and spends four hours there, it’s safe to assume that he worked in a round of golf. (Calls and meetings, after all, don’t require leaving Mar-a-Lago.) It’s also safe to assume that Trump’s golfing partners may not always have been people with whom he was deciding the fate of the world, given that one of the few foursomes we know about consisted of Trump, Rory McIlroy, a sports agent and one of Trump’s friends.

Every president is entitled to leisure time. What’s problematic about Trump’s golfing is that he’s spent so much time doing it after pledging to his supporters that he wouldn’t and, secondarily, that he and his team go to such lengths to hide or excuse what he’s doing. What presidents aren’t entitled to is being willfully dishonest to the media — much less to the people who elected them.

 

[candygirl200413]

That doesn't even make sense cause he has yet to make any deals! Like that cabinet just practices lying in front of their mirrors every morning.

[fraurosena]

No, they're not going to stop their "BUT HILLARY!" deflection tactics anytime soon.

White House Brushes Off Manafort Report, Cites Clinton's Russia Dealings

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"I should have been more precise with respect to Paul's role, so let me clarify this and kind of go through the facts," Spicer said. "Paul was hired to oversee the campaign's delegate operation."

He said that Manafort was hired on March 28 last year and left the campaign on August 19, 2016.

"In total he was involved with the campaign for a total of just under five months," Spicer said.

He compared Manafort's work to that of Tony Podesta, who Spicer described as a "Clinton campaign fundraiser" and the brother of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta.

Spicer went on to call Clinton "the face of the failed Russia reset policy" and said Manafort's connections were "not even close" compared to Clinton's "most significant role with respect to Russia."

"So a individual who worked for the campaign for five months, for the President's two-year-long campaign, who worked with a Russian entity a decade ago is the subject of rampant media speculation all day long, even though the Clintons had much more extensive ties," Spicer said.

(yass, found a painful eye roll gif... so now you know what my eyes feel like)

[GreyhoundFan]

10 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

No, they're not going to stop their "BUT HILLARY!" deflection tactics anytime soon.

White House Brushes Off Manafort Report, Cites Clinton's Russia Dealings

(yass, found a painful eye roll gif... so now you know what my eyes feel like)

They're like a bunch of young kids hollering, "I know you are, but what am I?" when they are called a name. I think Spicey is going to have a stroke soon.

[onekidanddone]

43 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

No, they're not going to stop their "BUT HILLARY!" deflection tactics anytime soon.

White House Brushes Off Manafort Report, Cites Clinton's Russia Dealings

(yass, found a painful eye roll gif... so now you know what my eyes feel like)

A few thoughts.

First i can't see Spicer and "fact" in the same sentence without getting all twitchy.

And what the fuck about Clinton.? That is a kin to some guy getting arrested for stealing and he says "Yea, but other guy in that other town 20 years ago....He stole something".  Oh put a moldy sock in it Sean. You can't excuse treason by say "yea yea but BENGAZI".  Treason is treason no matter if it *might* have been committed by somebody else in the past. 

We are going to have to buy a shit load of drywall, because I keep banging my head into to it.

38 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

They're like a bunch of young kids hollering, "I know you are, but what am I?" when they are called a name. I think Spicey is going to have a stroke soon.

I would not wish a stroke on anyone (well maybe POTUS (rhymes with cannon).  I just foresee Spicey pants steping down to spend more time with his sock puppet family.

[GreyhoundFan]

19 minutes ago, onekidanddone said:

A few thoughts.

First i can't see Spicer and "fact" in the same sentence without getting all twitchy.

And what the fuck about Clinton.? That is a kin to some guy getting arrested for stealing and he says "Yea, but other guy in that other town 20 years ago....He stole something".  Oh put a moldy sock in it Sean. You can't excuse treason by say "yea yea but BENGAZI".  Treason is treason no matter if it *might* have been committed by somebody else in the past. 

We are going to have to buy a shit load of drywall, because I keep banging my head into to it.

I would not wish a stroke on anyone (well maybe POTUS (rhymes with cannon).  I just foresee Spicey pants steping down to spend more time with his sock puppet family.

Oh, I wasn't wishing a stroke on him. I just think he's headed that way.

[GreyhoundFan]

"April Ryan on Sean Spicer’s insulting behavior: ‘I’ll be back’"

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Thanks to the dysfunction stemming from his boss, White House press secretary Sean Spicer is getting heavy exposure to the public via televised daily sessions in the briefing room. And the more we see of him, the nastier he appears.

On Tuesday he again showed his manipulative and churlish side in an exchange with April D. Ryan, the longtime White House correspondent and Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks. Ryan has been sitting through White House briefings since the second term of President Bill Clinton, and she had a big-picture question for Spicer after some rocky months for the Trump administration. “Two and a half months in, you’ve got this [Sally] Yates story today, you’ve got other things going on, you’ve got Russia, you’ve got wiretapping,” said Ryan, until Spicer cut her off.

“No, we don’t have that,” said Spicer.

Ryan cited investigations into the activities of the Trump campaign and Russia. “I get it but … I’ve said it from the day I got here until whenever that there is no connection. You’ve got Russia. If the president puts Russian dressing on his salad tonight, somehow that’s a Russian connection,” Spicer said.

After some more pushback from Ryan, Spicer said, “I appreciate your agenda here.” He said that people briefed on the Russia thing have reached the same conclusion about this matter. And as he unfurled his explanation, he snapped at Ryan: “I’m sorry that that disgusts you. You’re shaking your head. I appreciate it,” he said with sarcasm.

As a matter of fact, Ryan was displaying unimpeachable body language at that moment.

“At some point, April, you’re going to have to take no for an answer with respect to whether or not there was collusion,” Spicer said. On the matter of changing the perception of the White House, Spicer said, “We’re going to keep doing everything we’re doing to make sure that what the president told the American people he was going to do — to fulfill those pledges and promises that he made to bring back jobs, to grow the economy, to keep our nation safe.”

Then the conversation took a turn. Ryan asked about a meeting with former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, someone who hasn’t supported Trump. Spicer responded:”It’s interesting that you ask those two questions back to back. On the one hand, you’re saying what are we doing to improve our image? And then here he is once again meeting somebody that hasn’t been a big supporter of his. … It seems like you’re hellbent on trying to make sure that whatever image you want to tell about this White House stays. … I’m sorry, please stop shaking your head again.”

...

A video of the exchange is included in the article.

[onekidanddone]

17 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"April Ryan on Sean Spicer’s insulting behavior: ‘I’ll be back’"

A video of the exchange is included in the article.

Yea I saw the article, but couldn't watch it. It is hard to watch people get bullied.  A woman of color, of course she gets zero respect from tRump's sock puppet.

[GreyhoundFan]

5 minutes ago, onekidanddone said:

Yea I saw the article, but couldn't watch it. It is hard to watch people get bullied.  A woman of color, of course she gets zero respect from tRump's sock puppet.

I only watched about 20 seconds. It made me angry, so I stopped it. Spicey needs to go.

[fraurosena]

Spicey told the truth for once!

Donald Trump “feels great” about spending his time at Mar-a-Lago, his spokesman Sean Spicer has said. 

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Mr Spicer was asked by Fox 5 if Mr Trump was concerned about “pushback” he received from the costs associated with the trips and if this had influenced his decision not to attend Mar-a-Lago last week, or to visit this weekend.

He replied: “No, he [Mr Trump] feels great.”

The article added this little bit of info.

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The projected cost of security for Mr Trump’s visits over a four year presidential term was reported to be an estimated to be $600 million. This is just over the amount his administration plans on cutting for social, education and cultural programmes.

Just so you know.

[RoseWilder]

Sean Spicer is so bad at this: 

 

[AnywhereButHere]

12 minutes ago, RoseWilder said:

Sean Spicer is so bad at this: 

 

Oh, Mr. Spicer...

There's only one thing to say.

Spoiler

 

 

Edited March 31, 2017 by AnywhereButHere

[47of74]

Sean Shithead also refused to condemn the slaying of a black man by a white supremacist;

thinkprogress.org/white-house-refuses-to-condemn-murder-of-black-man-by-white-supremacist-6adcfc0c30aa

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James Harris Jackson, a 28-year-old white supremacist from Baltimore, traveled to New York City and brutally murdered Timothy Caughman, a 66-year-old black man, with a sword.

On Monday, April Ryan, Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks, asked Press Secretary Sean Spicer if the White House had anything to say about this hate crime.

One detail is that Jackson reportedly told authorities that he killed Caughman for the “rush.” Jackson, who has taken responsibility for the murder, traveled to New York “to kill as many black men as he could.” He also expressed regret that he didn’t kill a “young thug.”

Instead of addressing the murder, Spicer went on a number of bizarre tangents. He told Ryan that there has been “a rush to judgment in a lot of other cases,” specifically anti-semitic attacks, where people have demanded Trump condemn the violence. Later, Spicer said, people have learned that the attacks were not perpetrated by “people on the right.”

Ugh.  

[Curious]

On 2/5/2017 at 1:36 AM, Bethella said:

I particularly liked the part where she pulled stuff out of the boxes. 

That was the BEST thing evah!   I love MOOSE as everyone probably knows, so I loved that moment.  Moose-lambs is said here frequently now

[Curious]

The last 2 days they must have loaded Spicy up with Xanax before pushing him out the door into the briefing room.  He was so calm the day after the April Ryan kerfluffle and the next day.   Today he seemed to be at least a little back to his spicy self.

It must be hard to lose your reputation (and soul) lying for President Loco.  According to many of the pundits he's a good communications person and a nice guy.  I wonder if he has such a hard time speaking because he's choking on the lies he knows he's telling.

[onekidanddone]

4 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Sean Shithead also refused to condemn the slaying of a black man by a white supremacist;

thinkprogress.org/white-house-refuses-to-condemn-murder-of-black-man-by-white-supremacist-6adcfc0c30aa

Ugh.  

What "rush to judgement".. the white hooded fuck stick confessed and confessed proudly. Yea, Why not just  come out and say it Sean.  The man killed was black and homeless so he doesn't rate. 

Edited April 1, 2017 by onekidanddone

[Ali]

Yet claiming a terror attack was committed by a Muslim minutes after it happened would not be rushing to judgment.

[GreyhoundFan]

The WaPo has started "The Daily Spicer". Pretty scary.

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First in what could be an interminable series of posts on the activities of White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

Twitter seized on a remark from White House press secretary Sean Spicer in Friday’s media briefing. He was asked whether the White House would draw up its own plan on tax reform, as opposed to its tack on health care, “where we thought we were going to see a proposal from the White House but, in the end, the president sort of signed on to Paul Ryan’s plan.”

In his very initial response, Spicer said, “First, I would dispute that we signed on to someone’s plan.”

You would?

For context, consider that the central political drama of the young Trump presidency relates to the chief executive’s campaign promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, in his first days in office. The vehicle for accomplishing this goal — the American Health Care Act — emerged from the House Republican leadership and came to be known as “Ryancare,” after House Speaker Paul Ryan. It was also known as Trumpcare, in large part because the president put his full weight behind the plan, which, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would have left 24 million more Americans without insurance in 2024. Just a couple of the very public indications that the president had signed onto the plan:

...

Some of the Tweets in the article are a hoot.

[laPapessaGiovanna]

6 hours ago, Curious said:

That was the BEST thing evah!   I love MOOSE as everyone probably knows, so I loved that moment.  Moose-lambs is said here frequently now

Curious! You're back! 

[GreyhoundFan]

Spicey doesn't get that slamming on media outlets makes them more attractive to those of us who don't like the tangerine toddler: "The Daily Spicer: ‘Left-wing blog’ ProPublica reports spike in donations after attack from press secretary"

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Nonprofit investigative journalism mill ProPublica recently spotted a juicy change to a trust document relating to President Trump. As the site itself reported, the change, which was certified on Feb. 10, “stipulates that it ‘shall distribute net income or principal to Donald J. Trump at his request’ or whenever his son and longtime attorney ‘deem appropriate.’ That can include everything from profits to the underlying assets, such as the businesses themselves.”

At yesterday’s White House press briefing, press secretary Sean Spicer fielded a question about the ProPublica scoop. On the merits, Spicer suggested there were few: “A blind trust, or any kind of trust, rather, the whole entire point of setting it up is that somebody can withdraw money. And that’s, frankly, part of the point of setting it up,” he said.

Yet Spicer works for a fellow who rips the media at every turn, who terms “fake news” any scoops that paint him in a negative light, who premised his presidential campaign on media criticism, and who quite clearly feels more comfortable discussing the alleged failings of the media than complicated policy matters. So the press secretary must have felt fully licensed to blast ProPublica when he was pressed further on this trust-document change. “I’m not aware that there was any change. Just because a left-wing blog makes the point of something changing doesn’t mean it actually happened. I’m not aware that there was ever a change in the trust,” said Spicer.

ProPublica wasn’t going to allow the matter to rest there. It has a Twitter account, after all.

...

In this particular case, however, there’s an upside for ProPublica. Whereas one-time online donations have been running at about $1,200 per day recently, they spiked yesterday to more than $11,500 — a development that Tofel attributes to the attention from Spicer. Along with the cash has come a crowd: Spicer’s smear appears to have prompted an uptick of 70,000 followers for the ProPublica Twitter account and a boost of 5,000 new subscribers for the outlet’s newsletter, according to Tofel.

This dynamic has been well documented. Baseless, flick-of-the-wrist insults from Trump and his minions have helped to marshal subscriptions and eyeballs for a variety of outlets that have dug up unflattering scoops about the administration, and the campaign before it. New York Times, Washington Post and CNN are among that crowd. They’re all reporting about an administration that, with a snarky dig here or there, can extend a little stimulus package that requires no congressional approval.

Some of the Tweets in the article are great.

[GreyhoundFan]

No surprise -- Spicey and Bannon are even more disliked than the tangerine toddler.

Quote

President Trump's approval numbers have sunk faster than those of any president in the modern era.

The good news for him is that someone else in politics today has it worse. The bad news is that they are his top spokesman, Sean Spicer, and his top strategist, Stephen K. Bannon.

A new Quinnipiac University poll shows that views of Spicer and Bannon continue to dim alongside Trump's. Although the two aren't nearly as well-known as the commander in chief, the people who do know them like them even less than America likes Trump.

Seven in 10 registered voters have heard enough of Spicer to form an opinion. And although 20 percent have a favorable opinion of him, 49 percent have an unfavorable one — nearly 2.5-to-1 negative

...

Bannon's numbers are even worse; about 6 in 10 have heard of him, with just 11 percent having a favorable opinion and 45 percent having an unfavorable one. That's 4-to-1 negative.

...

Numbers for both suffer because they are much better-known to Democrats, who regard them by and large as boogeymen, and they are unloved even by some Republicans. More than 7 in 10 Democrats dislike both men. Republicans approve of Spicer just 48 percent to 18 percent and Bannon just 23 percent to 14 percent.

Bannon's numbers are notably worse than those of the last GOP presidential strategist Democrats loved to hate: Karl Rove. Rove's worst numbers in Gallup's polling were 19 percent favorable and 41 percent unfavorable, in 2006 when things were getting bleak for the George W. Bush administration. A Fox News Channel poll in 2007 had him at an 18 percent to 37 percent split.

...

My big question: have 40% of people surveyed really not heard of Bannon? and 30% not heard of Spicey? Do these people live under a rock?

Edited April 5, 2017 by GreyhoundFan

[Cartmann99]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

No surprise -- Spicey and Bannon are even more disliked than the tangerine toddler.

My big question: have 40% of people surveyed really not heard of Bannon? and 30% not heard of Spicey? Do these people live under a rock?

You know how the late night talk shows will do those "man on the street" bits, and they sometimes end up with someone who can't even correctly identify who the president is?  That's how. 

I'm afraid that those of us who have pictures of Bannon and Bullshit Spice on our dart boards, are not the norm. 

[AnywhereButHere]

Dumbshit Spice is having several of those "I don't think that word means what you think it means" moments. Even Muppets are confused.

Spoiler

 

 

[onekidanddone]

Oh Sean you really are an ignorant  little poop. Don't you know denying something after it has already been announced makes you a really shifty fraud? Oh D'oh! 

 

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/328148-spicer-denies-that-trump-is-abandoning-campaign-tax-plan  

04/10/17 03:25   PM EDT

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/328053-trump-starts-over-with-tax-plan-report

04/10/17 08:28 AM EDT

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Spicey, Spicey, Spicey: "The Daily Spicer: Press secretary discusses policy toward ‘Bissaa al-Ashar’"

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White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday articulated his boss’s narcissistic foreign-policy sensibilities. Citing the U.S. strike on a Syrian air base, Spicer said, “the action that we took last week has been widely praised domestically and internationally.” Asked about the danger of getting involved in a Middle East war, Spicer showcased his un-facility with words: “No. 1, the reason that we took action was multifold. No. 1, to stop the proliferation and the deterrence of chemical weapons. When you see mass weapons of destruction being used, it should be a concern to every nation, especially our own people. The proliferation of those weapons pose a grave threat to our national security.”

Bolding added to highlight a new acronym for international relations: “MWD.”

Armed with that innovation, Spicer continued with his lecture on security policy. “With respect to the people of Syria, by us taking action and de-escalating what’s going on in Syria — that’s the greatest thing you can do to support those people,” said the White House press secretary. “De-escalating the conflict there, containing ISIS is the greatest aspect of humanitarian relief we can provide first and foremost.”

Later came a question about removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Spicer continued with the theme: “As you reduce ISIS’s strength, as you de-escalate the conflict in Syria, the political environment to remove him becomes stronger and stronger.”

Kristen Welker of NBC News pressed Spicer on an apparent contradiction in administration policy toward Syria. On the one hand, said Welker, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the Syrian people would determine the fate of their ruler; on the other, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said there’ll be no peace in the region with Assad in power. Which is it? Welker asked. No contradiction there, said Spicer. “I don’t think those are mutually exclusive statements. … One of them’s saying I don’t see peace with him in charge; the other one’s saying we need to have him gone. I think that’s the point of both.”

Interesting perspective there. Among his many other powers, Spicer has the ability to obliterate distinctions. Herewith the dueling statements from Tillerson and Haley.

...

One final note on Monday’s briefing. Spicer himself rendered a dubious opinion of Syria’s leadership: “I can’t imagine a stable and peaceful Syria where Bissaa al-Ashar is in power.” Italics added to approximate the press secretary’s pronunciation of “Bashar al-Assad.” The Erik Wemple Blog will happily entertain other italicized approximations to Spicer’s attempt to pronounce the name of a foreign leader. Please see 53:59 on the video below.

I know Melissa McCarthy is scheduled to host the season finale of SNL, methinks she needs to come back before then.