Sean Spicer: King of Alternative Facts

[Cartmann99]

8 hours ago, onekidanddone said:

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

From the second article:

Quote

A separate plan currently making the rounds on Capitol Hill would slash corporate tax rates while getting rid of a considerable portion of the payroll tax.

Keep a close eye on this. Your payroll taxes include your contributions to Social Security and Medicare, and Paul Ryan and his friends would love to get rid of those programs. Unless we can get some good PSAs on Dancing With Celebrity Housecats With Gambling Problems, many people will just hear tax cut, cheer loudly, and tune out anything that may happen next. 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

This is just crazy: "Via Skype, the White House opens press briefings to Trump-friendly non-reporters"

Quote

Dale Jackson describes himself as several things — a radio personality, a TV talk-show host, “an entertainer” — but “reporter” isn’t on his list. In fact, it may be the last thing he wants to be known as. Jackson calls the journalists who cover the president “a bunch of partisan Democrats.”

Yet there he was — virtually — among a roomful of reporters, piping in from Athens, Ala., to question White House press secretary Sean Spicer during Spicer’s daily briefing for the news media in February. Jackson took a quick jab at the assembled journalists (“the elite media bubble,” as he phrased it) before launching into a question about when President Trump planned to end two Obama-era immigration programs.

The morning host at Athens radio station WVNN is among the unusual cast of characters who have joined the daily briefings. Using Skype, the video-call app, the White House has extended the daily question-and-answer sessions for the first time to people in far-flung locales. The innovation, Spicer said in an interview, “has been very successful bringing in additional reporters beyond the Beltway.”

Except that many of the people who have occupied the “Skype seat” aren’t reporters at all.

Like Jackson, many have been conservative talk-show hosts who are receptive to, or openly cheering for, Trump’s agenda. Since Spicer initiated the calls, he has taken questions from the likes of nationally syndicated radio personalities Lars Larson and Michael Medved. Questions have also come from regional hosts such as Bryan Crabtree of Atlanta, Adriana Cohen of Boston, Joyce Kaufman of Miami and Steve Gruber of Lansing, Mich.

The list further includes Jeff Jobe, a Kentucky newspaper publisher and former Republican candidate, and Jason Stevens, a visiting assistant history professor at Ashland University in Ohio.

The newbies have made little attempt to conceal their points of view, their enthusiasm for Trump or simply their contempt for the news media.

Jobe began his question at the inaugural Skype briefing in February with this preamble: “Clearly, anyone paying attention will see that President Trump is aggressively acting on his campaign promises. This in itself gives hope to my state and particularly the region in which I grew up, Appalachia. We’ve seen countless politicians make promises at both state and national levels, and not only forget us, but to turn on us.” He then asked Spicer about Trump’s plans to deregulate the coal-mining industry.

Larson wanted to know when Trump planned “to start returning the people’s land to the people. . . . Can he tell the Forest Service to start logging our forests aggressively again to provide jobs for Americans, wealth for the Treasury and not spend $3.5 billion a year fighting forest fires?”

...

Several veteran White House journalists say privately that Spicer has used the Skype calls to bolster the number of Trump-friendly participants in the briefings — a claim that Spicer flatly denies. He notes that some of the toughest questions he faces each day in the press room are from reporters representing conservative-leaning publications such as the Daily Caller, Breitbart News and Newsmax.

...

Great, let's crowd out real journalists with nutjobs like the one in the bolded statement.

[fraurosena]

 

3 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Great, let's crowd out real journalists with nutjobs like the one in the bolded statement.

Is he really this stupid, or is he just trying to fit in with the nutjob in @GreyhoundFan's post?

Sean Spicer Draws Backlash by Comparing Hitler and Assad

Quote

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, set off an intense backlash on Tuesday when he suggested that President Bashar al-Assad of Syria was worse than Hitler and said incorrectly that Hitler had not used chemical weapons during World War II or against his own people. [...]

“We didn’t use chemical weapons in World War II. You know, you had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons,” Mr. Spicer said. [...]

“I think when you come to sarin gas, he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing,” Mr. Spicer said, and mentioned “Holocaust centers,” apparently referring to Nazi death camps.

See, this is what happens when you don't get an education. 

[GreyhoundFan]

Just now, fraurosena said:

 

Is he really this stupid, or is he just trying to fit in with the nutjob in @GreyhoundFan's post?

Sean Spicer Draws Backlash by Comparing Hitler and Assad

See, this is what happens when you don't get an education. 

I was just coming here to post that. It's truly amazing how uninformed stupid he can be.

[GreyhoundFan]

"Spicer apologizes after receiving sharp criticism for saying Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons"

Quote

White House press secretary Sean Spicer apologized on Tuesday for remarks that were viewed as downplaying the atrocities of the Holocaust.

In criticizing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons during a Tuesday briefing, Spicer said that even Adolf Hitler did not sink to that level of warfare and “was not using the gas on his own people in the same way that Assad is doing,” despite Hitler’s use of gas chambers to kill millions of Jews and others.

Following hours of controversy, Spicer walked back his remarks late in the day.

“Frankly, I mistakenly used an inappropriate and insensitive reference to the Holocaust for which, frankly, there is no comparison,” Spicer said in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday evening that led the nightly newscasts of all three major networks. “And for that, I apologize. It was a mistake to do that.”

Blitzer, the son of Holocaust survivors, asked Spicer if he knew that the Nazis took Jews, gays, gypsies and others to death camps “to slaughter them in these poison-gas chambers.”

“Yes, clearly I am aware of that,” Spicer said, adding that his original comments were meant to focus just on Assad’s use of chemical weapons dropped from aircraft. “It was a mistake to do that and, again, that’s why I should have just stayed on topic, stayed focused on the actions that Assad had taken and the horrible atrocities that he had committed against his own people.”

President Trump and his aides rarely apologize for controversial remarks or stating factual errors and often take a confrontational approach when challenged. Spicer’s decision to appear on CNN late in the day was a sign of how badly his remarks were being received both inside and outside the White House.

Spicer brought up Hitler unprompted during Tuesday’s White House briefing when asked about the alliance between Assad and Russia.

“We didn’t use chemical weapons in World War II,” Spicer said. “You had . . . someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to the using chemical weapons.”

Later in the briefing, a reporter asked Spicer to explain what he meant.

“I think when you come to sarin gas, there was no — he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing,” Spicer said, mispronouncing Assad’s name.

Spicer’s comments drew stunned looks from reporters, and the mouth of one White House press aide seemed to fall open in a half gasp as he spoke. Reporters tried to correct Spicer, to remind him of the millions gassed in concentration camps, with one person shouting out: “He gassed the Jews!”

“I understand your point, thank you,” Spicer said. “He brought them into the Holocaust center, I understand that. But what I am saying in the way that Assad used them, where he went into towns, dropped them down to innocent, into the middle of towns . . . so the use of it. And I appreciate the clarification there. That was not the intent.”

Before the briefing was even over, White House press aides realized the magnitude of Spicer’s mistake. Shortly after he stepped away from the lectern, Spicer put out a statement again trying to explain what he meant.

“In no way was I trying to lessen the horrendous nature of the Holocaust,” he said. “I was trying to draw a distinction of the tactic of using airplanes to drop chemical weapons on population centers. Any attack on innocent people is reprehensible and inexcusable.”

...

He's really losing it.

[JMarie]

23 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

From the second article:

Keep a close eye on this. Your payroll taxes include your contributions to Social Security and Medicare, and Paul Ryan and his friends would love to get rid of those programs. Unless we can get some good PSAs on Dancing With Celebrity Housecats With Gambling Problems, many people will just hear tax cut, cheer loudly, and tune out anything that may happen next. 

 

 

Hey, I just might watch Dancing With Celebrity Housecats With Gambling Problems.  You know, whenever I need a break from The D. C. Follies.

[IrishCarrie]

Calling the death camps "Holocaust centres" is so weird to me - I've never heard them called anything close to that before. Is that a commonly used phrase in the USA?

When I hear it, I think of the visitors' centre that they have at public monuments or places of historical interest. You know; where they have a display of interesting artefacts and a gift shop and the toilets?

To me, "Holocaust centre" is a really minimising phrase, not acknowledging what went on in those camps. Obviously it's not the only offensive part of what Spicey said, but it's certainly the bit bugging me the most right now....

Edited April 12, 2017 by IrishCarrie

[GreyhoundFan]

9 minutes ago, IrishCarrie said:

Calling the death camps "Holocaust centres" is so weird to me - I've never heard them called anything close to that before. Is that a commonly used phrase in the USA?

When I hear it, I think of the visitors' centre that they have at public monuments or places of historical interest. You know; where they have a display of interesting artefacts and a gift shop and the toilets?

To me, "Holocaust centre" is a really minimising phrase, not acknowledging what went on in those camps. Obviously it's not the only offensive part of what Spicey said, but it's certainly the bit bugging me the most right now....

No, "Holocaust center" is not a commonly used phrase in the US. In fact, I had never heard it until Spicey. Most people I know say "concentration camp" or "death camp". Spicey is an idiot. "Holocaust center" sounds like a museum. However, the museum in DC is named the "United States Holocaust Memorial Museum", which I think is an appropriate title. It's so very sobering. I think Spicey needs to pay it a visit. It's only about one mile from the White House.

[apple1]

I can't stand Spicer.

 

That said - Spicer is not the problem. His boss is. He has an impossible job and (as I heard some actual journalist say) he is attempting to perform for an audience of one.

 

Postscript: Spicer's faux pas antics are IMHO another form of distraction.

[nausicaa]

2 hours ago, IrishCarrie said:

Calling the death camps "Holocaust centres" is so weird to me - I've never heard them called anything close to that before. Is that a commonly used phrase in the USA?

When I hear it, I think of the visitors' centre that they have at public monuments or places of historical interest. You know; where they have a display of interesting artefacts and a gift shop and the toilets?

To me, "Holocaust centre" is a really minimising phrase, not acknowledging what went on in those camps. Obviously it's not the only offensive part of what Spicey said, but it's certainly the bit bugging me the most right now....

No one, absolutely no one, in the U.S.A. says "Holocaust centers." 

And yes, even as an American, it sounds very minimizing and flippant. And I also think of visitor centers.

[catlady]

23 minutes ago, nausicaa said:

No one, absolutely no one, in the U.S.A. says "Holocaust centers." 

And yes, even as an American, it sounds very minimizing and flippant. And I also think of visitor centers.

i want to like this about 826,756,219,859 times.  i don't think anyone on the planet used that phrase before Spicer did.  

[candygirl200413]

But it's still maddening because this isn't his first time (or the rest of his cabinet) being super anti-semantic. Especially during the week of Passover.

[samira_catlover]

comment swiped from p 4, thing it was GreyHoundFan: “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. ..."

Uhhhh. SOOOOO, if I find you in a whorehouse that serves up crack cocaine and where politicians go to pick up their grift----I am, maybe supposed to assume you're a complete rookie that went there to get support for the local Parent Teacher Student Association?

[Howl]

16 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"Spicer apologizes after receiving sharp criticism for saying Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons"

He's really losing it.

Spicer can't wait to get his foot out of his mouth so he can step on his own dick at a moment's notice.   Unfortunately, this man's job description is "Words Matter".  

Tweeters nailed it:

Sean Spicer would show up to the gallows & be like "does anyone know when the neck hugging ceremony starts?"

Look, the Press Secretary may have just called concentration camps "holocaust centers," but at least he didn't do it during Passover.

With a heavy sigh, Sean changes his "Days without stepping on a rake" sign from 1 to 0.

I hope SNL does a skit where Air Force One is overbooked, and either Sean Spicer or Kellyanne Conway is dragged off the plane. 

Spicer’s internal monologue: “Hmm, I need to argue that Assad is bad. Guess it’s time to downplay Hitler for some reason."

And a big middle finger to Piers Morgan, who got up off his knees long enough to tweet:  Does anyone genuinely think @seanspicer doesn't know what happened in the Holocaust?
No. 
He jumbled his point, idiotically.
Move on.

[GreyhoundFan]

5 minutes ago, Howl said:

Spicer can't wait to get his foot out of his mouth so he can step on his own dick at a moment's notice.   Unfortunately, this man's job description is "Words Matter".  

Tweeters nailed it:

Sean Spicer would show up to the gallows & be like "does anyone know when the neck hugging ceremony starts?"

Look, the Press Secretary may have just called concentration camps "holocaust centers," but at least he didn't do it during Passover.

With a heavy sigh, Sean changes his "Days without stepping on a rake" sign from 1 to 0.

I hope SNL does a skit where Air Force One is overbooked, and either Sean Spicer or Kellyanne Conway is dragged off the plane. 

Spicer’s internal monologue: “Hmm, I need to argue that Assad is bad. Guess it’s time to downplay Hitler for some reason."

And a big middle finger to Piers Morgan, who got up off his knees long enough to tweet:  Does anyone genuinely think @seanspicer doesn't know what happened in the Holocaust?
No. 
He jumbled his point, idiotically.
Move on.

I despise Piers Morgan. He was on Bill Maher's show a while back and I actually started throwing stuff at the TV. He's a cocky, loathsome ass.

[AnywhereButHere]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/spicer-i-let-the-president-down/ar-BBzLogv?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=msnbcrd

Quote

White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Wednesday said he let President Trump down by saying Nazi leader Adolf Hitler did not use chemical weapons during World War II.

Spicer said his remark, which he said was meant to shame Syrian leader Bashar Assad for a deadly gas attack, distracted from Trump's decision to respond with a cruise missile strike and his successful meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"Your job as a spokesperson is to help amplify the president's actions and accomplishments," a subdued Spicer told interviewer Greta Van Susteren at a Newseum event examining the press in Trump's first 100 days.

"When you're distracting from that message of accomplishment, and your job is to be the exact opposite, on a professional level it's disappointing because I think I've let the president down. On both a personal level and a professional level, that will not go down as a very good day in my history," he added.

Oh, I think he's doing an excellent job of amplifying the thoughts and actions of his boss. Trouble is, his boss is a nutjob. I don't know much about Spicer other than the fact that he apparently dressed up as the Easter bunny for the Bush era Easter Egg roll. If I were him, I'd get back in that bunny costume and hop right on out of town.

[onekidanddone]

2 hours ago, AnywhereButHere said:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/spicer-i-let-the-president-down/ar-BBzLogv?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=msnbcrd

Oh, I think he's doing an excellent job of amplifying the thoughts and actions of his boss. Trouble is, his boss is a nutjob. I don't know much about Spicer other than the fact that he apparently dressed up as the Easter bunny for the Bush era Easter Egg roll. If I were him, I'd get back in that bunny costume and hop right on out of town.

Look over here boys and girls... pay no attention to that orange man behind the curtain while he signs executive orders to destroy this country and roll back any and all civil rights.  Don't look at orange boy while he guts all regulations.  Look at ME! I'm a shiny stupid dip shit, and I say outrageous things.  

Yes Sean is being used as a distraction puppet, but I also think he really is one of those "oh genocide wasn't that bad" folks.  Right along with Holocaust centers, I expect him to wax poetic on the good old days when "immigrants" from Africa came here to enjoy the wonderful possibilities of slavery (you know what Carson said).. or<intense bitterness and sarcasm> How 'bout that trail of tears..yea the People of the Cherokee Nation were just bored on their own land so they thought.. why not walk to Oklahoma. </intense bitterness and sarcasm>

ETA a few more things;

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/april-ryan-sean-spicer-holocaust_us_58ed204ce4b0ca64d919e852

Oh April, you must feel as if you have been snatched up by the X-Files alien and dropped in some backwards universe.  Look at this way, on the plus side you never lack for material from Sean.  On the down side...you have to sit there and listen to bat shit crazy Sean.

Lastly, Spicey was an Easter Bunny? Wow, he left the only job he ever qualified for to walk around with a sandwich board for tRump?

Edited April 12, 2017 by onekidanddone

[GreyhoundFan]

You know Spicey is in trouble when Alex Jones criticizes his Holocaust comments.

Quote

...

During the briefing Tuesday, Spicer tried to fix his initial mistake. But he only dug in deeper, saying that Hitler “was not using the gas on his own people in the same way that Assad is doing.” (Hitler’s systematic murder of Jews — including many in Germany — and of people from other groups left millions dead.)

Spicer told POLITICO that by the time he got to his office after the briefing, he knew he had messed up. One person who spoke to him Tuesday said he hoped a written clarification would calm the tempest. The White House issued a statement saying Spicer did not intend to "lessen the horrendous nature of the Holocaust,” but it did not quell the flood of criticism.

MSNBC fact-checked Spicer with a chyron summarizing what the press secretary had said and adding parenthetically that “Hitler gassed millions.” The Anne Frank Center accused Spicer of engaging in Holocaust denial. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called for the White House to fire him. Even Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist and Trump supporter, criticized Spicer.

Spicer called the office of Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, a major giver to Jewish causes, soon after making the statements, according to Andy Abboud, an Adelson spokesman. "Sean called shortly after and said he made a terrible mistake and apologized if he was offensive," Abboud said.

...

 

[K'Z'K]

Before he became Spinny Spice, he was indeed the Easter Bunny:

[Cartmann99]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Spicer called the office of Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, a major giver to Jewish causes, soon after making the statements, according to Andy Abboud, an Adelson spokesman. "Sean called shortly after and said he made a terrible mistake and apologized if he was offensive," Abboud said

"Aaack! I've offended the Jewish community! Someone get me an insanely wealthy Jewish donor on the phone so I can make amends!" 

 

[onekidanddone]

10 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

"Aaack! I've offended the Jewish community! Someone get me an insanely wealthy Jewish donor on the phone so I can make amends!" 

 

If? WTF

[GreyhoundFan]

15 minutes ago, KZK said:

Before he became Spinny Spice, he was indeed the Easter Bunny:

Okay, I've had trouble sleeping for the last few nights, thanks to some weird dreams. This picture has pretty much guaranteed another sleepless night...

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I love Dana Milbank's writing: "The unforgivable mistake Sean Spicer makes every day"

Quote

What Sean Spicer has done is inexcusable, and I cannot forgive him.

I’m not talking about the White House press secretary’s claim Tuesday that Adolf Hitler didn’t use poison gas, at least not against his “own people,” even if the Nazis did send Jews to “Holocaust centers.” He has apologized profusely for that.

What’s unforgivable is Spicer’s brazen assault on spoken English.

“Tell us who you want to apologize to,” said CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Spicer’s father-confessor of choice Tuesday evening.

“I’m not looking to quantify this in any way,” Spicer explained.

“Why bring Hitler into this?”

Spicer repeated: “I’m not going to try to quantify it.”

Spicer was presumably reaching for the word “qualify”; nobody asked him to tally up his Nazi remarks.

Spicer also lamented that his gaffe was “a distraction from the president’s decisive action in Syria and the attempts that he is making to destabilize the region.” Destabilize the Mideast? Mission accomplished.

Spicer went on to condemn the Syrian leader, “Bashad al-Asi---. A--, A --, Bashar al-Assad.”

Blitzer intervened. “I know you’ve mispronounced his name a few times, but it’s Bashar al-Assad,” he coached.

Just the other day Spicer pronounced it “Bissaa al-Ashar,” as transcribed by my colleague Erik Wemple.

Spicer’s struggles of the tongue make me believe his Nazi talk wasn’t a premeditated offense but a lost connection between brain and mouth. If you’re spokesman for the president, that’s not entirely reassuring.

n his brain he may be thinking “concentration camps,” but from his mouth it comes out “Holocaust centers,” as if they were shopping complexes. In his brain he knows Canada’s prime minister is Justin Trudeau and Australia’s is Malcolm Turnbull, but from his mouth comes “Joe Trudeau” and “Prime Minister Trumbull.” His brain knows what time it is when, at his afternoon briefing, he bids the audience good morning or good evening.

Whatever the cause, Spicer’s miscues are an international sensation. In Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald, inspired by the Turnbull mispronunci-ation, has a widget to “Spicer-ize” your name. Mine is “Danai Mildred” and Spicer’s is “Searby Spiedler.” GQ put together a video with an A-Z list of all the words Spicer invented on the White House podium. Highlights: Althewise, Drung Prices, Esigdesigejucation, Grobe, Inimpulintation, Kabalkabul-twi, Lasterday, Memererenrderm, Plarm, Transerptation, Wintofrom.

Some might think it unsporting to mock Spicer for his problem, but he did the same when he was with the Republican National Committee and Michelle Obama identified Iowa’s Bruce Braley as “Bruce Bailey.” “First lady botches name of Dem Senate candidate,” he tweeted.

As Spicer might say: What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gardener.

His mishaps on the podium are legendary. The inaugural crowd “was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period.” Trump’s unfounded claim that millions voted illegally are “based on studies and evidence that people have presented to him.” Trump’s equally dubious claim that President Barack Obama had a wiretap on Trump Tower: “The president used the word ‘wiretap’ in quotes to mean broadly surveillance and other activities.”

After Spicer demanded that journalists stop using the word “ban” for Trump’s travel ban, Trump tweeted: “Call it what you want.” After Spicer promised that “you will see a response from this president” if Syria uses barrel bombs, a White House official said Spicer misspoke.

Thrice in January, Spicer referred to a terrorist attack in “Atlanta,” presumably meaning Orlando, 400-odd miles away. He has been portrayed to such devastating effect by Melissa McCarthy on “Saturday Night Live” — devouring gum, struggling with names and attacking reporters — that even now, when he shows up to briefings in jackets that fit, he sometimes appears to be imitating McCarthy imitating him.

,,,

Wemple believes Spicer’s collection of “spurts and blurts and polemical dead ends” is evidence that “he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Wemple notes his tendency to say “at the end of the day” for just about every purpose. After Politico noted that Spicer uses “phenomenal” to describe everything from the failed health-care bill to U.S.-Mexico relations, Stephen Colbert put together a video of Spicer saying “phenomenal” set to the Muppets classic, “Mah Na Mah Na.” I count him retreating to the adjective “robust” in 17 different briefings, once producing this amalgam of Spicerisms: “I think the relationship with Mexico is phenomenal right now, and I think there’s an unbelievable and robust dialogue between our two nations.”

Way better than our relationship with Bashad al-Whatshisname.

 

[Howl]

9 hours ago, KZK said:

Before he became Spinny Spice, he was indeed the Easter Bunny:

First, KZK, you get an awesome ribbon for finding this pic.  Next, who is the guy holding the bunny head?  Then my eyes wandered down to five pairs of white/beige tennies at the left bottom of the pic. Then I wondered whose portrait that is above the lamp. So much going on. 

[onekidanddone]

22 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

You know Spicey is in trouble when Alex Jones criticizes his Holocaust comments.

 

Wait.  Agent just might appoint Jones for a cabinet position.