Sean Spicer: King of Alternative Facts

[nvmbr02]

Darn. I was looking forward to seeing what good ole' Spicer came with.

 

 

[PreciousPantsofDoom]

They're sending out Sarah Huckabee Sanders? Maybe somebody should check the hospitals: Spicey might have finally had that aneurysm.

[Audrey2]

2 hours ago, PreciousPantsofDoom said:

They're sending out Sarah Huckabee Sanders? Maybe somebody should check the hospitals: Spicey might have finally had that aneurysm.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was an audition for Sarah to replace Spicer. He has lost all credibility with America and we know, to Trump, that appearance is everything. If Trump can get her to sell his lies better, expect Spicer to be fired in 3...2...1....

[formergothardite]

59 minutes ago, Audrey2 said:

I wouldn't be surprised if it was an audition for Sarah to replace Spicer. He has lost all credibility with America and we know, to Trump, that appearance is everything. If Trump can get her to sell his lies better, expect Spicer to be fired in 3...2...1....

I just watched her press conference and she is annoying  as fuck. I can't wait till SNL mocks her. 

[GreyhoundFan]

15 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

I just watched her press conference and she is annoying  as fuck. I can't wait till SNL mocks her. 

I believe Melissa McCarthy is the guest host this week. I can see her as Spicey and Kate McKinnon (since she can do anything) as Sanders. That would be an incredible sketch.

[Buzzard]

1 hour ago, Audrey2 said:

I wouldn't be surprised if it was an audition for Sarah to replace Spicer. He has lost all credibility with America and we know, to Trump, that appearance is everything. If Trump can get her to sell his lies better, expect Spicer to be fired in 3...2...1....

Spicer is on Reserve duty this week... lucky for him.

[nvmbr02]

16 minutes ago, Buzzard said:

Spicer is on Reserve duty this week... lucky for him.

Reserve duty plus hiding in the bushes during his "off time". 

 

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/sean-spicer-spent-several-minutes-hidden-the-bushes

Quote

Last night at the White House, for example, Press Secretary Sean Spicer didn’t seem altogether prepared for reporters’ questions about his boss firing the FBI director for reasons that don’t make sense. The Washington Post captured the scene:

After Spicer spent several minutes hidden in the bushes behind these sets, Janet Montesi, an executive assistant in the press office, emerged and told reporters that Spicer would answer some questions, as long as he was not filmed doing so. Spicer then emerged.

“Just turn the lights off. Turn the lights off,” he ordered. “We’ll take care of this…. Can you just turn that light off?”

Spicer got his wish and was soon standing in near darkness between two tall hedges, with more than a dozen reporters closely gathered around him. For 10 minutes, he responded to a flurry of questions, vacillating between light-hearted asides and clear frustration with getting the same questions over and over again.

 

[formergothardite]

Spicy is literally hiding in the bushes, I think the job is driving him insane. 

[fraurosena]

On 2017-5-9 at 11:18 PM, GreyhoundFan said:

Therefore, in the vernacular of the White House press secretary, she is not a “good man” and, thus, is fair game for being smeared.

Duh... she's a woman! Vastly inferior to the misogynistic assholes in the WH, obviously.

[CTRLZero]

17 hours ago, nvmbr02 said:

Reserve duty plus hiding in the bushes during his "off time". 

Maybe his commanding officer ordered him not to go on camera during his Navy Reserve duty stint, so he thought he could get around it this way?     Now I think of him as a hedgehog.

 

 

[apple1]

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is no better. In fact, she may be worse. Her faux persona of "reasonableness" is a deception. She spins and lies and deceives at is mouthpiece for Trump just as much or more than Spicer.

[AnywhereButHere]

48 minutes ago, apple1 said:

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is no better. In fact, she may be worse. Her faux persona of "reasonableness" is a deception. She spins and lies and deceives at is mouthpiece for Trump just as much or more than Spicer.

I am not a fan of anything Mike Huckabee stands for, but the man can be a persuasive speaker. I was hoping she had not inherited that particular talent.  Spicer seems to be unspooling, and I'd hate to see someone accomplished take his place.

[onekidanddone]

The local news did a segment at a bar asking people their thoughts of Spicy. When one woman was asked if she thought Spicy had been replaced she responded "well they need to put him out of his misery".  I would might have said "He needs to be put out of our misery"

[candygirl200413]

Someone thought that he was wearing two different shoes during a press conference with Price I believe? Before I learned that he actually had a boot for said injured foot. But I did laugh before finding said information.

 

[JMO]

I can't wait for Saturday night!

http://www.vulture.com/2017/05/melissa-mccarthy-sean-spicer-snl-preview.html

A motorized podium, awesome. 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Sean Spicer is still contradicting President Trump"

Quote

Perhaps, after a two-day absence, White House press secretary Sean Spicer is out of the loop. Maybe his ego simply will not allow him to admit that he was wrong. Either way, Spicer still is not on the same page as President Trump.

Trump made clear on Thursday in an interview with NBC News that he had made up his mind to fire James B. Comey as FBI director before asking the Justice Department to produce a report on Comey.

“Oh, I was going to fire regardless of recommendation,” Trump told Lester Holt.

The president's statement contradicted Spicer's assertion from Tuesday night that Trump made the call based on a critical memo authored by Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein. “It was all him,” Spicer had said of the decision, referring to Rosenstein.

Incredibly, Spicer returned to the White House briefing room Friday and told reporters that Trump “made a decision, in part based on the recommendation” — after Trump said a day earlier that he “was going to fire regardless of recommendation.”

...

“Why did you come out with information that was later contradicted by the president two days later?” Time magazine's Zeke Miller asked during Friday's briefing. “Why were the American people given incorrect information night?”

“I don't necessarily believe that that's true, Zeke,” Spicer replied.

What? It is true. Or, if it's not, then Trump lied to NBC on Thursday. Surely Spicer doesn't want to give the impression that the president lied. His response made zero sense.

“What can the administration do better when it comes to communication?” Trey Yingst of One America News asked at another point during Friday's briefing. “Today the president tweeted out that he felt that from behind that podium, it's not always possible to present the information with perfect accuracy.”

...

“As many of you know, we get here early; we work pretty late,” Spicer answered. “We do what we can, but the president is an activist president. He keeps a very robust schedule, as many of you are very well aware and as you can tell by the activities of next week alone, and I think sometimes we don't have an opportunity to get in to see him, to get his full thinking.”

All of that makes sense. But if Trump's spokespeople haven't had an opportunity to “get his full thinking,” they ought to just say so, instead of providing false information to reporters. Spicer's deputy, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said “no” when asked on Wednesday whether Trump had made his decision before commissioning the report on Comey. Like Spicer, she was wrong. Like Spicer, she later blamed the error on having not spoken to Trump.

Unlike Spicer, however, Sanders got in line with Trump when she said on Thursday that “he had already made that decision.” Spicer is still telling a story that does not match the president's.

Spicey, Spicey, Spicey...

[fraurosena]

 

Is Trump Taping Conversations in the Oval Office? Sean Spicer Won’t Say

Quote

The White House did not deny on Friday that President Donald Trump taped meetings with his former FBI director — or that the president may be recording conversations in the Oval Office.

"The president has nothing further to add on that," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said at the daily briefing when asked several times by reporters about the president's tweet Friday morning referring to "tapes" of Comey.

Trump had tweeted, "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"

Spicer also pushed back on characterizations about the nature of the tweet saying it was "not a threat."

"He's simply stated a fact," Spicer said. "The tweet speaks for itself. I'm moving on."

Reporters also peppered Spicer with questions about whether Trump was recording in the Oval Office and Spicer responded that he had nothing further to say.

Democrats criticized Trump's comments with some requesting a copy of the recordings.

Democratic Reps. Elijah Cummings and John Conyers of the Judiciary and Government Oversight committees sent a letter to White House Counsel Don McGahn on Friday requesting copies of all White House recordings related to the Comey matter.

The letter also sought "all documents, memoranda, analyses, emails, and other communications relating to the President decision to dismiss Director Comey."

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, tweeted "Mr. President, if there are "tapes" relevant to the Comey firing, it's because you made them and they should be provided to Congress."

Trump's latest tweet alluding to the possibility of recordings further added to the heightened drama of the past two days as the White House tries to do damage control on the messaging surrounding Comey's firing. During an exclusive interview Thursday with NBC News' Lester Holt, Trump said he'd previously planned to fire the FBI director — which conflicted with what staffers and surrogates previously told the media about Comey's surprise ouster.

Comey will not appear, as previously scheduled, at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday.

Senate Intel Committee Ranking Member Mark Warner said he's hoping to hear from Comey in the "not-to-distant future".

Nick Ackerman, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and an assistant Watergate prosecutor, told MSNBC that the situation reminds him of Watergate and makes him wonder if Trump recorded Comey or if the president is trying to intimidate him by implying he has a tape.

"President Trump doesn't understand Watergate, he hasn't learned anything from it," he said.

Clint Watts, a former FBI special agent, said on MSNBC that Trump's tweet threatening to leak conversations with Comey is causing government officials to say they can't trust the President's judgment.

"If I'm a government official right now, what I just learned today is that I'm never going to have a private conversation with the president. I will have group conference calls with multiple witnesses," Watts said. "If I get called to the White House, I'm going to take my attorney that works at my agency and another agent with me. Because I can't trust that what I say to the president isn't going to be misconstrued and used against me because I don't do what he wants."

Now I'm even more convinced that widespread wiretapping is going on in the WH.

[GreyhoundFan]

1 hour ago, fraurosena said:

 

Is Trump Taping Conversations in the Oval Office? Sean Spicer Won’t Say

Now I'm even more convinced that widespread wiretapping is going on in the WH.

The toddler's golf carts are probably recorded. Frankly, after reading about the likely taping at Drumpf Tower, I wouldn't be surprised if most of Mar-a-Loco is bugged. If I worked in the Agent Orange version of the WH, I'd assume that every word is being recorded and reviewed by Bannon and the TT.

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Embattled White House press secretary Sean Spicer a fundraising draw for Virginia GOP"

Spoiler

White House press secretary Sean Spicer, whose combative briefings have turned him into a national celebrity, is being promoted as the main draw at a fundraiser on Thursday night to benefit the Republican Party of Virginia.

The event, for which Spicer is billed as the “special guest,” is slated to take place at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va. — a frequent destination for the president when he sticks around the Washington area on weekends — according to a copy of the invitation.

Spicer’s appearance comes at a particularly embattled stretch during his tenure. In the wake of the tumult that followed President Trump’s firing of FBI Director James B. Comey, Trump has spoken candidly with his advisers about a broad staff shake-up that includes members of his communications team.

Spicer’s national profile has risen in part because of over-the-top portrayals on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” by Melissa McCarthy, including an extended sketch this past weekend.

Spicer, a former communications director for the Republican National Committee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the fundraiser.

David D'Onofrio, a spokesman for the Virginia GOP, said Spicer “is proving to be a very significant draw, and people are very interested in coming to the event.” He declined to say how many people are expected or otherwise elaborate.

Tickets for the event begin at $125 per person and range up to $6,000 for six tickets to both the general reception and a separate VIP reception, according to the invitation.

In keeping with fundraising prohibitions, the invitation is careful to note: “Mr. Spicer is a special guest for this event. His participation in the event is not a solicitation of funds by him.”

One Virginia Democrat — lieutenant governor candidate Susan Platt — was quick to highlight Spicer’s appearance.

“It’s no surprise that Spicey is rolling his podium to Trump National,” she said in a statement. “This event has all the comic makings of a ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit, but in real life. Unfortunately, there’s nothing funny about taking health care away from 24 million Americans, jeopardizing women’s health and setting a horrible example for our kids through hateful rhetoric and dangerous policies. Donald Trump and Spicey should take their hate and keep it on the other side of the Potomac River.”

 

They would have to pay me to go see him.

[Zola]

Spicey better play it cool, lest his boss think he's "grandstanding" or "showboating." 

[onekidanddone]

4 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"Embattled White House press secretary Sean Spicer a fundraising draw for Virginia GOP"

They would have to pay me to go see him.

Is the Virginia GOP asking to come crashing down?  Spicey really?

[GreyhoundFan]

1 hour ago, onekidanddone said:

Is the Virginia GOP asking to come crashing down?  Spicey really?

Not a tear would be shed in this house if that happened...

[GreyhoundFan]

I love Dana Milbank: "Trump has sucked the lifeblood out of Sean Spicer"

Spoiler

I’m often asked if I think President Trump will make it through all four years of his term.

My stock reply: The better question is whether we will survive the next four years.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he does make it to 2020 without impeachment, or the 25th Amendment, blocking his path. Trump has a long history of walking out of disasters unscathed. It’s those around him — the Sean Spicers of the world — who are destroyed.

Alas, poor Spicer! I knew him well.

He was one of the top Republican flacks in town, affable and quick-witted, always happy to dish with reporters off the record. I liked him. I still like him — or at least that Spicer I knew before he answered Donald Trump’s call.

The Spicer who strode into the White House briefing room Monday afternoon I did not recognize. He scanned the room, unsmiling. He furtively checked his watch. He recited a long opening statement carefully and flatly, as if reading from a science textbook. And he had absolutely nothing to say.

President Trump’s hint that he taped conversations with Jim Comey? “I was very clear that the president would have nothing further on that last week.”

The Russia probe generally? “The president’s position’s been very clear.”

And everything else: “I think I’ve made it very clear. . . . He made it very clear. . . . It’s been made very clear. . . . I made it clear. . . . The FBI director and others have made it very clear.”

Spicer was studiously dour and clearly wasn’t enjoying himself. He was puffy, pinched and pale. And little wonder: Trump has sucked the lifeblood out of him.

The president turned him into a national punchline on his first day on the job, forcing him to provide “alternative facts” about the inauguration. On Friday morning, Trump confirmed for the world what was widely suspected: Spicer doesn’t really know what’s going on. “As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!” Trump proclaimed.

The next day, “Saturday Night Live” did its latest sendup of the hapless spokesman. This time Melissa McCarthy’s Spicer hid in the bushes, attacked reporters and rode his motorized podium in search of Trump, vainly seeking assurance that he hadn’t been lied to. Alec Baldwin’s Trump tried to grope and kiss McCarthy’s Spicer.

“Is this like ‘The Godfather’ when you kiss me and no one ever sees me again?” the Spicer character asked.

“Yes,” the Trump character answered.

It’s a matter of time until life imitates sketch. Washington is abuzz with speculation about when Spicer will be shown the door, but it doesn’t really matter. His credibility, and his dignity, have already been defenestrated.

He will soon be added to the heap of unhappy people who cast their lots with Trump and were repaid with misery.

Trump entities have filed for bankruptcy protection six times. Investors, lenders and workers took hits — and Trump moved on. Trump was caught on tape boasting to Billy Bush about sexually assaulting women — and Billy Bush lost his job. Corey Lewandowski and Paul Manafort poured themselves into Trump’s campaign and were unceremoniously dumped.

The carnage has increased since Trump came to Washington. National security adviser Michael Flynn is out and potentially in legal trouble. The FBI’s Comey arguably handed Trump the election — and learned of his dismissal from TV. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein tarnished his sterling reputation in just two weeks.

As my Post colleague Abby Phillip documented, Vice President Pence has been “unflagging in his loyalty,” only to be made “the public face of official narratives that turn out to be misleading or false.” Trump humiliated Steve Bannon by publicly downplaying their association. Trump repaid House Speaker Paul Ryan’s loyalty by winking at calls for Ryan’s ouster. Attempts to defend Trump by aides Reince Priebus and Kellyanne Conway and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have left them sounding clownish.

Trump takes what he can from each of his aides and allies and then moves on. It would seem that time is near for Spicer, who started Monday’s briefing 45 minutes late and, in the minutes that followed, avoided answering questions by saying no fewer than 22 times how very “clear” he or Trump had been about this or that. NATO: “Very clear.” Tax reform: “His plan has been pretty clear.” Secret tapes: “The president’s made it clear.” Where there was confusion, Spicer pretended to see clarity, in Afghanistan (“He’ll have an opportunity to make his position very clear”) and Syria (“The president’s always been clear that he’s not going to telegraph actions”).

At the end of the lifeless performance by the beleaguered spokesman, what was clear is this: Spicer’s utility to Trump has diminished. And, as many a Trump loyalist has discovered, you are useful to Trump until you are not — and then you are cast aside.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Hmmm: "Fox News’s Kimberly Guilfoyle is openly gunning for Sean Spicer’s job"

Spoiler

The indignities just keep piling up on Sean Spicer.

Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle is openly gunning for the White House press secretary's job, telling the Bay Area News Group of San Jose that “it would be an honor to serve the country.”

Infowars reported  Thursday that Guilfoyle, part of the ensemble cast of “The Five,” is being considered as a replacement for Spicer, who was conspicuously absent from the White House briefing room on the two days after President Trump fired James B. Comey as FBI director. The New York Times lent credence to the Guilfoyle rumor Friday, reporting that “Trump has raised the Fox News host … to allies as a possible press secretary.”

The White House said that Spicer was out because of previously scheduled Navy Reserve duty, but he had been on reserve duty the prior week, and CNN reported that he was benched in favor of deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, whom journalists seemed to consider more poised.

“Saturday Night Live,” hosted by Melissa McCarthy, satirized Spicer's uncertain job status over the weekend.

Now, Guilfoyle is campaigning for the gig, saying she possesses the necessary qualities.

“I think I have a very good relationship with the president,” she told the Bay Area News Group. “I think I enjoy a very straightforward and authentic, very genuine relationship, one that's built on trust and integrity, and I think that's imperative for success in that position.”

Guilfoyle is even talking about Spicer as if he were already gone: “Sean Spicer is a very nice man and a patriot. He's dedicated himself to this public service. Very tough position he's in. I wish him the best, and I know he puts a lot of effort into it.”

Wow.

Trump reportedly considered Guilfoyle for press secretary before taking office. The State Department recently hired another Fox News personality, Heather Nauert, to serve as its spokeswoman. Former White House press secretary Dana Perino is one of Guilfoyle's co-hosts on “The Five.” If Trump does, indeed, decide to move on from Spicer and also decides to pass over Sanders, Guilfoyle would be an unsurprising pick.

Still, it is a bit jarring to see the current White House press secretary afforded so little respect by a Fox News host who generally covers the Trump administration favorably.

Wow, how humiliating for Spicey. Of course, it's his own fault. You play with the devil, you get burned.

[AnywhereButHere]

At this point, he should just give up...