Sean Spicer: King of Alternative Facts

[laPapessaGiovanna]

I agree @fraurosena. Trump in the White House feels like the ultimate reality show.

[fraurosena]

Oh dear.

The mysterious disappearance of Sean Spicer

Quote

On Sunday night, the White House sent out its daily schedule -- as it does every day. Except, one thing was different: Sarah Huckabee Sanders, rather than her ostensible boss, Sean Spicer, would be giving the daily press briefing on Monday.

The White House sought to play the substitution as a nothing-burger -- noting that past administrations had used their deputies to fill in as daily briefers when necessary.

Which, like many things that come out of this administration, has a touch of truth to it but is not, technically, true. Deputy press secretaries in the past have filled in when the principal press secretary is otherwise occupied -- as Sanders did when Spicer was on naval reserve duty recently.

But Spicer was in the White House on Monday -- as Sanders confirmed. She added that Spicer is "taking on extra duties" since the White House doesn't have a communications director. (Mike Dubke resigned last week.)

So. Many. Questions. Is Spicer the de facto communications director now? If so, why didn't the White House say anything about it prior to Sanders backing into a kind of, sort of announcement at the podium today? If not, then why is Sanders saying it?

Too much conspiracy theory for you? Remember that in politics, like in life, context matters. A lot. And the context here is that a staff shuffle has been promised -- by Trump! -- for weeks now. And, we know from all the great reporting done by CNN and others, that Trump has not been terribly pleased with the job Spicer is doing.

There was much talk during Trump's foreign trip that Spicer would never return to the briefing podium when the president returned stateside. Spicer did, in fact, get back in the saddle several times last week, but it seemed like his heart was nowhere near into it. He recited talking points, read prepared answers written down in advance and ended the briefings as quickly as he possibly could.

By Friday, he had simply ceased answering any questions at all -- referring queries to either the State Department or Trump's personal attorney. Asked whether President Trump believed in global warming -- a question he had been asked several days earlier -- Spicer said he had still not had a chance to talk to the President about it. A follow-up as to whether he would be able to find that time soon had Spicer, again, non-committal.

To simply not show up for the next briefing after a performance like that one on Friday is sure to raise questions no matter the past history here. Trump knows that. Spicer knows that. Sanders knows that. Hell, anyone who has ever followed politics for more than five minutes knows that.

Which brings me to this question: Has Spicer reached the end of the line as the main briefer of the press? And, if so, when (if?) will we get formal confirmation? Is Spicer, as Sanders suggested, moving up the chain of command in the White House? Being layered over? Or, and this is totally possible given the unpredictability of this White House, will he be back behind the podium for the rest of the week, acting as though nothing has changed?

The truth is no one -- up to and including Trump -- may know the answers to any (or all) of those questions.

 

[Jane M.]

Spicer better not disappear. The guy puts a great clown act in the Trump circus. 

[Howl]

On 6/5/2017 at 3:09 PM, fraurosena said:

Oh dear.

The mysterious disappearance of Sean Spicer

Just another great example of governance by whack-a-mole, lurching from crisis to crisis, NEVER getting ahead of the self-generated chaos. 

  

 

 

 

[apple1]

Not a Spicer fan, but I would rather listen to him than to Sanders.

[GreyhoundFan]

"The subtle way that Sean Spicer drives reporters crazy"

Spoiler

When Sean Spicer makes a statement that later proves false, holds a briefing off camera or cuts a Q&A session short, reporters complain. Obviously. But to understand the fractured relationship between journalists and the White House press secretary, you have to look beyond a few glaring incidents.

You have to look at the subtle way that Spicer projects utter disdain for the people who cover him.

Monday’s otherwise unremarkable news briefing showcased a prime example. Six times, reporters asked variations of the same question: When will President Trump reveal whether he does or does not possess recordings of his conversations with former FBI director James B. Comey, a prospect Trump raised in a tweet last month?

Recall that the president offered a vague answer when asked about tapes during a news conference Friday. “I'll tell you about it over a very short period of time,” he said.

These were Spicer’s responses to reporters Monday:

• “The president made clear in the Rose Garden last week that he would have an announcement shortly.”
• “When the president’s ready to make it.”
• “I think the president made it clear what his intention is on Friday.”
• “He said he would answer that question in due time.”
• “I think the president made it very clear on Friday that he would get back as soon as possible on this.”
• “He’s not waiting for anything. When he’s ready to further discuss it, he will. But I think he laid out his position very clearly, very concisely on Friday.”

The key word, which Spicer repeated several times, is “clear.” That’s the word that really captures his attitude.

Why are you dodos asking this question? There is a very clear answer that the president clearly stated, which you should clearly know.

Journalists understand that Spicer is bound by whatever information restrictions his boss sets. If Trump doesn’t want to answer — or even say when he will answer — then his spokesman is in a difficult position.

Spicer could have given a non-answer while still earning a bit of sympathy from the press corps by acknowledging the legitimacy of the question.

Look, I know you’re all eager to find out whether there are tapes, and the president agrees that the American people have a right to know. As he said on Friday, he will provide an answer soon, but for now he has nothing to add.

Instead, Spicer replied under the ridiculous pretense that the question already had been answered satisfactorily.

To put it another way: He broke the rules of engagement between journalists and flacks, which require each side to recognize that the other has a job to do. As he often does, Spicer acted as if reporters were not doing their jobs. He acted as if they were badgering him for no reason, demanding an answer that they clearly got from the clear-speaking president last Fri-clearing-day.

The tension between Spicer and the press is not only about major clashes. It’s also about the general contempt that emanates from the briefing-room podium.

Contempt does describe the attitude well.

[GreyhoundFan]

"‘I have no idea’: The White House’s spokesmen aren’t speaking much these days"

Spoiler

More and more, the White House press office is saying less and less.

On question after question, press secretary Sean Spicer and deputy Sarah Huckabee Sanders have responded with the verbal equivalent of a shrug. They have repeatedly answered that they can’t answer, don’t know, or must refer the questioner to someone else.

Has President Trump taped his conversations in the White House, as he asserted last month? “I have no idea,” Sanders said Thursday.

Does the president have confidence in his attorney general? “I have not had a discussion with him about that,” Spicer replied Tuesday. (Sanders followed up two days later by saying “absolutely.”)

Did the president watch former FBI director James B. Comey’s testimony before the Senate? “I don’t know if he’s seen much of it,” Sanders said last week.

At the same time, the administration’s press representatives are meeting less often with the press. During Trump’s first 100 days in office, Spicer and Sanders held 53 official briefings and “gaggles,” informal, untelevised Q&As with small groups of reporters — a rate of about once every two days. In the 43 days since then, just 15 such sessions have been held, or once every three days. The briefings are getting briefer, too: Early on, Spicer engaged with reporters for an hour or longer; during his May 30 briefing, he took questions for just 11 minutes.

Spicer’s briefing on Monday may have set a record for brevity — he took questions for less than 11 minutes. Among his responses to 22 questions, he cited previous presidential statements, deferred answering or said he didn’t know 11 times.

Some reporters say they can feel a chill in the White House briefing room.

“One major change [from previous administrations] is the hostility emanating from the administration for certain members of the press,” said April Ryan, who has covered the White House since President Bill Clinton’s last term. Ryan said Mike McCurry, Clinton’s press secretary, once described the White House’s interactions with the media as “a friendly adversarial relationship.” Nowadays, she said, “the friendly has been dropped from that analogy.”

Over the past month, Spicer and Sanders have said they couldn’t or wouldn’t address reporters’ questions about such topics as the timing of the president’s decision about moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, about the process for selecting a new FBI director or about whether Trump intends to replace two business executives who quit a presidential advisory panel in protest of his decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement.

The press staff’s most consistent no-comment territory, however, has been the congressional and special-counsel investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. Spicer and Sanders now reflexively pass any inquiry about that subject to Trump’s personal attorney, Marc Kasowitz.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped reporters from trying to get answers.

During Thursday’s gaggle, Sanders offered the same response — talk to Kasowitz — five times. At one point, tired of the repetition, she compared reporters to young children. “I’m kind of looking around for my kids because I feel like, with toddlers, you get to answer the same question over and over, so I’m in good practice for this,” she said.

Repeated questions about alleged recordings of the president’s conversations with Comey prompted more snark. Asked if she could find out whether such a recording system existed in the Oval Office, Sanders replied, “Sure, I’ll try to look under the couches.”

In an interview Saturday, Spicer said the rapid pace of issues and events at the White House warrants a cautious approach in responding. “I think we’re trying to ensure that we offer the most accurate information possible regarding what the president is thinking on an issue. We can’t and won’t get ahead of the president’s thinking.”

He also said reporters shared some of the responsibility for the White House’s wariness. “There’s so much ‘gotcha journalism,’ where the press wants to parse every word to create a story, that we have to be as precise as possible,” Spicer said. “The news has become about the clip and the segment rather than about understanding the issue.”

But the White House’s reluctance to comment can sometimes seem like deflection or evasion amid the news of the day. As a presidential decision about withdrawing from the Paris treaty loomed late last month, for example, Spicer deployed a series of dodges to address Trump’s beliefs about climate science.

“Can you say whether or not the president believes that human activity is contributing to the warming of the climate?” a reporter asked Spicer during a briefing on May 30.

“Honestly, I haven’t asked him,” he responded. “I can get back to you.”

Two days later, Time magazine reporter Zeke Miller circled back, noting that the president was about to announce his decision on the climate agreement.

“What does the president actually believe about climate change? Does he still believe it’s a hoax? Can you clarify that? Because apparently nobody else at the White House can.”

Spicer’s reply: “I have not had an opportunity to have that discussion.”

Although the Obama White House had its own reputation for bobbing and weaving, the Trump media operation has had to grapple with the president’s tendency to contradict its statements.

Trump also has announced some decisions before his communications staff was informed or prepared.

The White House press shop had to scramble last week to put out an official statement about Trump’s pick for FBI director, Christopher Wray, after Trump had tweeted the nomination earlier in the morning. The five-hour delay in issuing the statement indicated that Trump’s tweet had taken his staff by surprise.

Last month, after his aides rushed to put out the word that the president had fired Comey because of a memo from the deputy attorney general asserting that the FBI director had mishandled the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server, Trump gave an interview to NBC stating that he fired Comey because of “this Russia thing.”

Shortly after that, the president acknowledged in a tweet his tendency to preempt his aides and advisers: “As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!”

A White House press aide to Obama offers a blunter assessment: Trump, no fan of reporters, has decided that he doesn’t want his spokespeople to say much to them. “My guess,” he said, “is their strategy of dismembering their press shop is another means to undermine the press at large.”

Sounds like SHS is getting as snarky and nasty as Spicey.

[GrumpyGran]

2 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

We can’t and won’t get ahead of the president’s thinking.”

Can't get ahead of it, can't get behind it, can't even wrap our heads around it!

[Childless]

13 hours ago, GrumpyGran said:

Can't get ahead of it, can't get behind it, can't even wrap our heads around it!

Most of the time no one understands it.

[GreyhoundFan]

4 hours ago, Childless said:

Most of the time no one understands it.

That's because most of us have more than two active brain cells.

[fraurosena]

Snort.
This is hilarious.

 

[onekidanddone]

Thanks @fraurosena.  That is some serious shade being thrown there.  Looks like the entire room is BEC. 

[nvmbr02]

I doubt it comes as a shock to anyone but it looks like Spicey will not be giving the press briefings anymore. He is being moved to a new roll. 

Sean Spicer takes on new WH role, may no longer give press briefings

[JMarie]

7 hours ago, nvmbr02 said:

I doubt it comes as a shock to anyone but it looks like Spicey will not be giving the press briefings anymore. He is being moved to a new roll. 

Sean Spicer takes on new WH role, may no longer give press briefings

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/laura-ingraham-said-to-be-a-leading-candidate-to-replace-spicer/ar-BBCUkqR?li=AA5a8k&ocid=spartanntp

If Ingraham becomes the new press secretary, will Kate McKinnon play her on SNL?  Will Ingraham still be the press secretary when the new season of SNL starts in the fall?

[GrumpyGran]

Well, I'm relieved for him that he no longer has to deal with the press directly because that can be so difficult for a press secretary, just not really what they are trained to do. Seriously I do sense that they're moving him slowly out the back door. One day he'll wake up in one of the dumpsters by the loading dock.

But Ingraham seems too controversial and, well, I see competing egos. Can't see her kissing the ring. She's too ambitious to join the clown choir.

[GreyhoundFan]

Alexandra Petri is always good for a snarky column: "My application to replace Sean Spicer"

Spoiler

Sean Spicer is reportedly searching for candidates to replace himself for his daily Five Minutes of Acute Discomfort. He has, according to Politico, been reaching out to Laura Ingraham to handle the daily briefing and David Martosko of the Daily Mail to take over the job of communications director.

Before they do anything hasty, I would like to offer my application for the position. I am good at standing in an ill-fitting suit and getting indignant that people are asking me questions, as though it is somehow their fault that I am in this position.

Name: Alexandra

Are You Open To A Mean Nickname: Yes

Why Are You Seeking This Position? I want to be publicly humiliated every day by rumpled strangers for up to half an hour, but I do not want to have to go on Craigslist or explain this lifestyle to my mother.

Will You Be Deeply Hurt If You Don’t Get To Meet The Pope: *sniffle* No. I Will Be Fine. He is just one more white-haired man in a novelty hat and seeing him means NOTHING to me, NOTHING.

Are You Taller Than A Bush: No! I am compact and could easily be concealed behind even an average shrub.

Do Your Clothes Fit You: My aesthetic is best described as ‘someone who has lost a bet on laundry day.’

What Is The Largest Plant You Have Ever Hidden Behind: Decorative Fern At Dentist’s Office

How Do You Feel About Dippin’ Dots: They are not the ice cream of the future.

Can You Endure Up To Six Seconds Of Mildly Aggressive Questioning: Yes, but then I will have to end things.

Recite The Press Secretary Catechism: 

• President Trump was joking.
• President Trump was completely serious.
• President Trump is the sun and the moon and the stars!
• I will get back to you on that.
• The tweet speaks for itself.
• The tweet says the opposite of what you believe it says.
• I am insulted that you would ask such a thing.
• Fake news.
• It was bigger and better than ever and gladdened the heart of every American who saw it.
• The president does not own a bathrobe.
• The real problem is the leakers.
• I regret what I said about the Holocaust.
• Your guess is as good as mine!
• [rush into bushes and cower there for hours until everyone leaves]

Essay Portion. 

Describe Donald Trump’s inauguration crowds. 

They were as massive as a Death Star but twice as diverse.

How was the meeting with [Foreign Leader]?

• The meeting with [Foreign Leader] went really well and [leader’s name] was very impressed and [name’s] hand was nearly crushed with 2000 psi of raw power in a truly masculine handshake. H.R. McMaster is definitely not now standing outside NATO headquarters with a boombox. The relationship with Angela Merkel is getting better and better all the time.

Does Donald Trump know about [issue]?

• Donald Trump is well aware of all the issues, except for the scandalous thing you just mentioned, of which he knows nothing and will be stunned to hear that such things are even going on.

What is this report about Donald Trump getting simple briefings with “killer graphics”?

• Look, if you think about it, his briefings have way more words than President Obama’s used to, because those were just WORDS whereas each picture is a THOUSAND words. If you take the time to convert and do the math, just as we definitely did on the AHCA, a document that was well and clearly thought out by the best minds of our generation, he has the most words of anyone, and also of course the best words.
• The reports of a puppet show briefing are baseless, as are rumors that Donald Trump found it “too slow” and became agitated when one of the puppets, a red Muppet labeled AMERICA’S PRESTIGE ABROAD was killed and was inconsolable for hours and had to be given three scoops of ice cream at dinner to soothe him. As is the report that he yelled at the puppets shouting NO PUPPET NO PUPPET YOU’RE THE PUPPET and Chris Christie had to be called to subdue him — there is no merit. Chris Christie is definitely not the only one who can make him feel at ease by humming in that way he has and rubbing his shoulder gently.
• Definitely there is not in the White House somewhere a picture of a shark with “USA” written on the side that is being used to explain our role in NATO.

Does Donald Trump understand [foreign policy issue]?

• Yes. He is highly intelligent, and he often asks difficult questions. Sometimes the hardest questions to answer are the ones you’ve never really had to think about before, like, “Where is Pakistan?” — a really interesting and deep question when you consider the history of that region and the various claims that have been made over time and “What are the Kurds?” because how can you even define people? Answer: You can’t. These are definitely the sort of questions a smart and prepared man would ask, and Donald Trump is smart and prepared and raises me up so I can stand on mountains and be more than I can be.

Sean, are you okay? 

• Donald Trump is the wind beneath my wings and the reason I dare to dream. When he jokes about firing me or mispronounces my name, what I hear him saying is, I love you. I hear that over and over again. I close my eyes and shove my fingers in my ears and run from the room crying at the thought of such love. It is vast and bottomless. Not trim and defined, like Donald Trump’s physical form.

Why did Donald Trump say [alarming misheard fact]?

• Donald Trump is a good listener, and it is not that he only remembers things from the time that someone tells them to him to the moment that a reporter appears. Definitely not that.

What are we missing about Donald Trump? 

• His physical beauty and enormous stamina, and the fact that he is holding up five fingers. Or four. Whatever it is.

See, I can handle the job.

And the most important qualification of all: I also have no idea what is going on in the White House and will be completely unable to answer any questions that you have.

 

[apple1]

Apparently Spicer is now the butt of Steve Bannon's fat-shaming (Bannon's joke as to why Spicer is not having televised news conferences). :-(

[GreyhoundFan]

18 minutes ago, apple1 said:

Apparently Spicer is now the butt of Steve Bannon's fat-shaming (Bannon's joke as to why Spicer is not having televised news conferences). :-(

Seriously? Like Bannon is a Chippendale dancer?

[GreyhoundFan]

The WaPo published an excellent annotated transcript of Spicey's off-camera and off-microphone press briefing. I can't quote the notes, but they are worth a read.

[onekidanddone]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Seriously? Like Bannon is a Chippendale dancer?

You know the rock musical Tommy? One line from one of the songs applies to this "Go the mirror boy".

[GreyhoundFan]

"Chelsea Clinton accuses Bannon of 'fat shaming' Sean Spicer"

Spoiler

Washington (CNN) The punchline, for lack of a better word, in a piece in The Atlantic on the much-maligned decay of the White House press is a text message, presumably joking, from White House adviser Steven Bannon to a reporter explaining why Sean Spicer has spent less and less time in front of cameras at the podium.

"Sean got fatter," texted Bannon.

We don't KNOW that Bannon was joking, mind you. He didn't respond to follow-up questions, according to writer Rosie Gray in The Atlantic piece. But treating the question as a joke would be in line with how the Trump administration has generally regarded the press briefings, which have been rarer and rarer and not often in front of cameras. There was one scheduled late Tuesday morning for later in the day.

Chelsea Clinton, the former first daughter whose mother was defeated last November by President Donald Trump, did not take the Bannon text as a joke.

...

"The White House using fat shaming to justify increased opacity. 2017," she tweeted.

Later, she responded to a reporter from Breitbart, the conservative news site once run by Bannon.

...

"Oh ok. So using fat shaming to avoid answering questions about increasing opacity. Got it. 2017."

She also responded to another tweeter who accused her of a "PR-Managed response from the humor-imparied left."

...

Actually, Clinton wrote back, "Just me as I was standing in line @ Starbucks earlier. Fat shaming isn't a joke I find funny. Ever."

There you have it. Here's what we've learned:

1. Conservatives think Bannon was joking.
2. That's in line with how the White House has treated the press briefing
3. Chelsea Clinton disagrees and thinks it is fat shaming.
4. She also disagrees with the decay of the White House press briefing because it leads to "opacity" and allows the White House to refuse to answer questions.
5. She stands in line and tweets at Starbucks like everyone else.

We can presume that Clinton's tweets won't do much to help Spicer, who is either stepping into a higher role at the White House or on thin ice (or both), depending on who you're listening to.

Trump was apparently none too pleased earlier this year when Spicer was portrayed on "Saturday Night Live" by Melissa McCarthy, a sketch so successful it was stretched across the show's entire season.

But it is also true that Trump has suggested the briefing is not a good fit for his White House since his spokesman can't be expected to keep up with his thinking. And he has consistently undercut things both Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders have said from the podium.

That doesn't mean the White House should stop doing the briefing, although journalists like CNN's Jim Acosta have raised serious alarm bells about that possibility.

Chelsea Clinton, for her part, has come to the defense of Trump White House officials before, when it serves her purpose.

Back in March, she called comments by Democratic Rep. Cedric Richmond about a photo featuring Kellyanne Conway taking a picture in the Oval Office "despicable" and demanded an apology for Conway.

...

Cedric later apologized, although he denied he was joking in the first place.

Twitter trolling the Trump White House and general wrongness she sees on social media has increasingly become one of Clinton's self-appointed roles.

As CNN's Hunter Schwarz wrote earlier this year:

"Perhaps the Clinton most effective at Twitter trolling, though, is Clinton's daughter, Chelsea. Employing Internet colloquialisms, like linking to the latest Trump controversy while referencing how early it is (as if to say, "Trump has already ruined X, Y, and Z, and it's only Monday"), @ChelseaClinton benefits from being conversational. Her feed is more typical liberal millennial than her scripted political family members."

In this case, she was able to troll the White House for its lack of transparency and call out "fat shaming" in the same tweet.

 

[GrumpyGran]

WTH? Why is he talking again? Didn't he just quit this job? He doesn't show up for his job  for eight days, announces he's "moved on to..." and then actually shows up for the job? These people can't even figure out what their jobs are.

As for Bannon and his "joke", really? Of all the thinks you could joke about? What next, jokes about deadbeat dads? Guess he never met a mirror he didn't immediately cover. Because, you know, there wouldn't be anything there to see anyway.

[onekidanddone]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"Chelsea Clinton accuses Bannon of 'fat shaming' Sean Spicer"

 

Sooo  if I call Bannon a Neo-Nazi, splotch faced scum bag, and TT a orange skinned shit sainted sack of crap,  I can follow that up with just joking?  Duly noted.

[candygirl200413]

I don't body shame UNLESS people are assholes (such as Orange Fuckface and POS Bannon). I was just like you two are gorgeous? When both of you neglect your health? ugh.

[GreyhoundFan]

"Another alternative fact from Sean Spicer"

Spoiler

There is spin and then there is Sean Spicer, who is denying the objective reality of his media availability.

Witness this exchange Wednesday between the White House press secretary and conservative radio host Laura Ingraham:

INGRAHAM: How do you answer the press vipers? That’s my word, not yours. They’re very upset. They’re very, very upset. They want to spend more time — quality time — with you, Sean. They don’t want just, like, a brief drive-by with you, Sean. They want quality time to really have the relationship build on itself. So, what’s going on with the fewer briefings?

SPICER: Well, first of all, it’s not fewer briefings. And, again, this is part of the problem, I think, for people who don’t take the time to listen to your show or others that inform them entirely, they get this false impression.

To say there are “not fewer briefings” is false, plain and simple. As I noted Monday, the number of briefings and gaggles by Spicer and his deputy, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has been declining since March. Here's an updated chart:

...

The sheer number of briefings does not tell the whole story. The Q&A sessions also are getting much shorter. The average duration was about 48 minutes in March and has been about 28 minutes in June.

That means the drop in total briefing time — “quality time,” as Ingraham sarcastically described it — has been even sharper.

...

In case you're wondering, President Trump's spokesmen also have held far fewer briefings than Barack Obama's had at the same stage of the last presidency.

...

By any measure, there are fewer briefings these days. That's a fact. Spicer's claim that there are “not fewer briefings” is an alternative fact.

That Spicer made the claim in an interview with Ingraham is just too perfect. Ingraham was a candidate for press secretary last fall, and the White House recently approached her about replacing Spicer. She has publicly played down her interest in the job, but it is easy to see why Trump might prefer Ingraham over Spicer at this point.

Just look at the way she posed the question about briefings. She insulted reporters (“vipers”) and delivered a strong dose of snark but acknowledged the decline in Q&A sessions.

Any press secretary who represents Trump is going to bring some attitude to the role. It's a prerequisite, actually. To maintain credibility, however, the press secretary must maintain a grip on reality. A person in Spicer's position can argue that a reduction in briefing time is warranted for any number of reasons but cannot pretend that the reduction is just a “false impression.”

Spicer still has not learned to draw the line at provably untrue statements, which is one reason that he could soon be moved behind the scenes.

I disagree with the last statement. In this administration, spouting untrue statements seems to move a person up, not down.