WHAT’S THE STORY?
THE resignation of Sean Spicer as Press Secretary to President Donald Trump took place yesterday afternoon, or just before noon in Eastern Standard Time.
A High Noon had been coming for Spicer for some time, but few expected it just six months into the most high-profile public relations job in the US, if not the world.
The trigger for Spicer’s self-imposed ouster, as the Americans call it, was Trump’s decision to appoint Anthony Scaramucci, a financier and entrepreneur with no previous press experience, as White House Director of Communications – suffice to say the two men have "previous" and are not chums.
Unlike the movie High Noon, on this occasion the man in the firing line wasn’t for hanging around and, realising his position was untenable as he had advised against Scaramucci’s appointment, Spicer rode off into the sunset saying he was honoured to have served Trump.
WHAT REALLY CAUSED HIM TO WALK?
YOU mean apart from his disastrous relationship with the American press and broadcasting media over issues ranging from his blatant lies in defence of his boss to his many verbal jousts about "fake news"?
Spicer will never be forgotten for his claim that Trump’s inauguration was the biggest in history when it certainly was not.
There was also his being lampooned on television where he was brilliantly portrayed as a bully by actress Melissa McCarthy (Trump was least impressed by the fact that his aide was being played by a woman).
One theory is that Spicer really began to look for a way out of the White House when Trump did not include the devout Roman Catholic in the party to meet Pope Francis I. That may yet backfire on The Donald as Spicer will surely soon make his Confession… to a publisher waving a seven-figure cheque.
There was also some stuff that the fiercely patriotic Spicer might not have been able to stomach. Just five days ago he came under fierce questioning about Trump’s hypocritical Made In America Campaign, pushing American-made goods while the Trump family businesses manufacture their products abroad. Even Spicer found that difficult to defend, saying mildly: “It’s not appropriate for me to stand up here and comment about a business. I believe that’s a little out of bounds.”
SO ALL IS SWEETNESS AND LIGHT IN THE WHITE HOUSE?
PUT it this way, Camelot it ain’t. Scaramucci’s appointment was also against the advice of the White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, though he and the new communications director are as close as “brothers” Scaramucci claimed last night. Aye, right.
Spicer had been filling in as director of communications since the resignation of Mike Duke, also a Wall Street financier, in May.
Trump is known to believe that it’s the way his messages are being delivered, rather than his policies, which are getting him grief.
Spicer never did know what Trump was going to do next, especially when the President went on Twitter to give his reactions.
His biggest fault was that he did persuade Trump to give up Twitter, and he is believed to have convinced him in the first place to use social media rather than deal with the traditional press and broadcasters. He was loyal to Trump, however, and despite his many gaffes – saying that Hitler did not use chemical weapons was his worst – Spicer was as much a victim of Trump’s narcissism as he was an appeaser of it.
You can only wonder how he felt when Scaramucci in his first press briefing heaped sickly praise on Spicer and then announced that Spicer’s deputy Sarah Sanders was confirmed as his replacement less than five hours after the announcement.
Scaramucci is definitely a much smoother operator than Spicer. His corporate speak was much in evidence last night, and he has a nice sense of humour – asked by one reporter about his description of Trump as a hack politician two years ago, he joked that the President reminded him of his remark “about every 15 seconds.”
NOT MANY PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE ARE UPSET AT SPICER GOING THEN?
IT says it all about our internet-driven age and the contempt in which Spicer was held by many people that the Wikipedia entry about him was altered yesterday to refer to his resignation before it was even officially confirmed. The story was leaked by a White House staffer, something which has plagued the Trump presidency.
Even as he walked away, though Spicer will stay around to help the "transition", the joke was on him. American writer and performer J Elvis Weinstein tweeted: "Sean Spicer waited until today to resign to buck the conventional wisdom that 'he’ll never last 6 months.’"
Jesse Singal of New York magazine tweeted: “Sean Spicer has resigned, stating he wants to spend more time lying to his family.”
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