What Really Goes on at White House Press Briefings

White House press secretary Sean Spicer speaks during the administration’s daily press briefing in Washington, D.C., on March 28.  Joshua Roberts/Reuters
White House press secretary Sean Spicer speaks during the administration’s daily press briefing in Washington, D.C., on March 28.
Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Slate’s Seth Stevenson offers a great insider’s view of the ongoing trainwreck that is Press Secretary Sean Spicer in his article, “The Daily Show.”

The real problem in the briefing room isn’t the kind of questions getting asked, who’s being allowed to ask them, or how they’re phrased. It’s the posturing of the press secretary and the brazenness of his lies. Consider that, during contentious moments in past administrations, press secretaries managed to remain collegial from the podium. Even deferential.

It’s long, but well worth reading to get, as Paul Harvey used to say, “the rest of the story.” Because all we citizens ever see of it is the snippets on TV or the theater of the absurd quotation outtakes.

Stevenson gives a more well-rounded view of the proceedings — but Sean Spicer is still a “keg-shaped bully” and a liar.

Beware If Spicer Says It’s ‘Phenomenal’

“The health care debacle, the travel ban setback, difficulties with Mexico, a slew of empty positions across the government — all are symptoms or causes of President Donald Trump’s rocky first few weeks in office. They also have another thing in common: White House press secretary Sean Spicer has used the word ‘phenomenal’ to describe them. … To be fair, Spicer has also deployed the term with more auspicious results — including the president’s ability to get his message out, to describe Terry Branstad’s prospects as ambassador to China and to discuss the Governors Ball. But there’s an unmistakable connection between his use of ‘phenomenal’ and issues that seem to be not going so hot for the White House.”

Politico

Spicer Said Media Shouldn’t Be Banned — In December

I think we have a respect for the press when it comes to the government. That is something you can’t ban an entity from. Conservative, liberal or otherwise, that’s what makes a democracy a democracy versus a dictatorship.

— White House press secretary Sean Spicer, quoted by the Washington Post, on Dec. 16, 2016. On Friday, Feb. 24, 2017, Spicer blocked several media outlets from a White House briefing.