White House spokesman Spicer out as Trump seeks to fix image

[rooster59]

White House spokesman Spicer out as Trump seeks to fix image

By Steve Holland

 

FILE PHOTO: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer holds his daily briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 2, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer resigned on Friday, ending a short and turbulent tenure that made him a household name and the butt of late-night television comedy lampoons, amid further upheaval within President Donald Trump's inner circle.

 

While not a surprise, Spicer's departure was abrupt and accompanied other changes in Trump's media and legal teams, as an investigation of possible ties between his campaign and Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election widened.

 

After six months in power and still without a major legislative win, Trump shuffled some of his closest staff, parting ways with Spicer after naming Anthony Scaramucci as the new White House communications director. Spicer had been communications director as well as press secretary following the resignation of Mike Dubke as director early last month.

 

A Republican close to the White House told Reuters that Trump settled on Scaramucci, 53, a political supporter and former Goldman Sachs banker, for the head media job on Thursday and met with him on Friday morning to formally offer it to him.

 

A White House official briefed on what happened next said Spicer was told of Scaramucci's hiring and Trump urged Spicer to stay on. But Spicer, 45, said he did not want to stay on under the terms and conditions described to him and quit.

 

A source close to the White House said: “Basically Donald Trump likes Scaramucci on TV and saw the communications director job as a way to ... make him a top TV surrogate."

 

The source said Trump wanted Spicer to be press secretary and do much of the communications director's work as well, "with Scaramucci holding the ceremonial title with no responsibility. And that was the real challenge.”

 

At an early afternoon briefing, Scaramucci, in his debut before the White House press corps, named Sarah Sanders as the new press secretary. She had been Spicer's deputy.

 

Known by insiders as "Mooch," the new communications director is a Harvard Law School-educated Long Islander who founded a hedge fund after leaving Goldman, and sold it to join the Trump administration.

 

Spicer, a veteran Washington staffer, was parodied memorably by actress Melissa McCarthy on the "Saturday Night Live" TV comedy show for his combative encounters with reporters.

 

"I am grateful for Sean's work on behalf of my administration and the American people," Trump said in a statement. "I wish him continued success as he moves on to pursue new opportunities. Just look at his great television ratings."

 

Spicer will stay on the job through August.

 

From the start, Spicer invited controversy, attacking the media in his first appearance as press secretary for reporting what he called inaccurate crowd numbers at Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.

 

"This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe," he said, an assertion that quickly drew scorn.

 

In a Twitter post on Friday, Spicer wrote, "It's been an honor & privilege to serve @POTUS @realDonaldTrump & this amazing country. I will continue my service through August."

 

EASTER BUNNY

 

Before Trump tapped him for the job of press secretary, Spicer was the Republican National Committee's spokesman. He had previously worked in the administration of former President George W. Bush. During that time, he dressed up in an Easter Bunny costume for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

 

Spicer and other Trump aides shook up White House dealings with the media, including cutting back daily televised news briefings and replacing them with audio briefings only.

 

Scaramucci told reporters, "I love the president. ... It's an honour to be here." Asked how he was going to right the White House ship, Scaramucci said there was nothing to fix.

 

"The ship is going in the right direction. I like the team. Let me rephrase that: I love the team," he said.

 

TRUMP TURMOIL

 

Separately, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating the possible Trump-Russia ties, has asked White House officials to preserve any records of a meeting last year between the president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and a Russian lawyer, a source with knowledge of the request said on Friday.

 

The spokesman for Trump's outside legal team, Mark Corallo, resigned. His departure came amid media reports that the role of Marc Kasowitz, who had been leading the team, was being reduced.

 

On Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions brushed off sharp criticism from Trump, saying he loved his job and planned to stay in it. Trump took a broad swipe at his administration's top law officers this week in a New York Times interview, saying he would not have appointed Sessions as attorney general if he had known he would recuse himself.

 

White House unrest was not limited to communications and legal staff, said two officials familiar with the situation.

 

Trump has ignored the recommendations of national security adviser H.R. McMaster and his senior director for Russia, Fiona Hill, on dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

 

They said McMaster is frustrated by continuing debate about sending more U.S. forces to Afghanistan. One official said tension persists between McMaster and chief White House strategist Steve Bannon and chief speechwriter Stephen Miller.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-22

[Somtamnication]

Clowns leave circuses all the time. Another one will come in. Oh, Huckabee is in! LOL

[darksidedog]

Where next I wonder for Spicer. He has proven himself to have no conscience, next to no brains and almost no dignity. Used, abused and told to tell lies outside of his ability level, by his image crazy boss. Discarded for someone who can spin bullshit with a bigger and more convincing smile. Perhaps more people would have found him entertaining if he had worn the Easter Bunny suit while making his press announcements.

[Credo]

3 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

Where next I wonder for Spicer. He has proven himself to have no conscience, next to no brains and almost no dignity. Used, abused and told to tell lies outside of his ability level, by his image crazy boss. Discarded for someone who can spin bullshit with a bigger and more convincing smile. Perhaps more people would have found him entertaining if he had worn the Easter Bunny suit while making his press announcements.

He could be a runner up for the most foolish person in communications, next to Saddam's communication person during the Gulf War.   

[Samui Bodoh]

5 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

Where next I wonder for Spicer. He has proven himself to have no conscience, next to no brains and almost no dignity. Used, abused and told to tell lies outside of his ability level, by his image crazy boss. Discarded for someone who can spin bullshit with a bigger and more convincing smile. Perhaps more people would have found him entertaining if he had worn the Easter Bunny suit while making his press announcements.

 

Actually, I have some sympathy for Spicer; he was a symptom but not the disease.

 

While you can blame an employee of a chemical factory after an explosion, the real villain is the owner. In the current White House, no one truly realized what a cloud of toxic waste Trump would be.

[sirineou]

Why don't we just outsource the Trump administration to Goldman Sachs?

[brewsterbudgen]

Melissa McCarthy and SNL did him in. ?

[selftaopath]

54 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

Where next I wonder for Spicer. He has proven himself to have no conscience, next to no brains and almost no dignity. Used, abused and told to tell lies outside of his ability level, by his image crazy boss. Discarded for someone who can spin bullshit with a bigger and more convincing smile. Perhaps more people would have found him entertaining if he had worn the Easter Bunny suit while making his press announcements.

Agreed.

 

The time has past for America to rid itself of liars in official capacities. They are led by the biggest most malignant liar every seen in public life. 45 and his regime are out to destroy U.S. democracy using any means possible.

 

I realize now the (R) designation of party affiliation mean RUSSIA.

[selftaopath]

46 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

Actually, I have some sympathy for Spicer; he was a symptom but not the disease.

 

While you can blame an employee of a chemical factory after an explosion, the real villain is the owner. In the current White House, no one truly realized what a cloud of toxic waste Trump would be.

I have no sympathy for him or any other liar. They make their choice/s daily. He could have shown credibility and integrity if he quit on his 1st day.

[boomerangutang]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

Where next I wonder for Spicer. He has proven himself to have no conscience, next to no brains and almost no dignity. Used, abused and told to tell lies outside of his ability level, by his image crazy boss. Discarded for someone who can spin bullshit with a bigger and more convincing smile. Perhaps more people would have found him entertaining if he had worn the Easter Bunny suit while making his press announcements.

                              He had one of the yuckiest jobs in the USA.  He had to parrot the president's lying.  Sometimes, there was a slight grin on his face, as he said the words the president told him to say - but that grin dissipated when the president would contradict himself (and the spokesman) hours later.  

 

Scaramucci told reporters, "I love the president. ... It's an honour to be here." Asked how he was going to right the White House ship, Scaramucci said there was nothing to fix. "The ship is going in the right direction. I like the team. Let me rephrase that: I love the team," he said.

 

Scaredmucus sounds like a complete horses butt hole - the exact type of person Trump wants.  When he's no longer useful, Trump will kick him out the upstairs window, like he eventually does with all the others who preceded him.

 

Spoiler alert:   Kushner will be out of the Oval Office very soon.  There's just too much of a tide against him - even for the Dufus in Chief to keep him by his side. 

[boomerangutang]

6 minutes ago, selftaopath said:

I have no sympathy for him or any other liar. They make their choice/s daily. He could have shown credibility and integrity if he quit on his 1st day.

You're right to a degree.  He could have quit the first day.  His only alternative, in order to keep his job, was to regurgitate the garbage shoveled to him by Trump.  If you've got a job cleaning septic tanks, you either clean the tank, or quit and find another job.  You can't be a septic tank pumper and expect it to be a flower arranging job. 

[CutiePi]

Sabastian Gorka as press secretary is my choice.

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

Where next I wonder for Spicer. He has proven himself to have no conscience, next to no brains and almost no dignity. Used, abused and told to tell lies outside of his ability level, by his image crazy boss. Discarded for someone who can spin bullshit with a bigger and more convincing smile. Perhaps more people would have found him entertaining if he had worn the Easter Bunny suit while making his press announcements.

I read an article about him that a friend published.  I'll try to find it.  The net, his friend said Sean was becoming mentally unstable due to the demands of the job.  Not liking the position he was put in.  But as said above, it was up to him to do it.  And he did.  I would have quit day one. LOL

 

Love the replacement.  So much for draining the swamp.  It just keeps getting deeper and deeper:

Quote

Known by insiders as "Mooch," the new communications director is a Harvard Law School-educated Long Islander who founded a hedge fund after leaving Goldman, and sold it to join the Trump administration.

Another member of the 1% club.

[LannaGuy]

I must say he was a terrible pick and simply didn't have the comm's skills for that job so, in that respect, it wasn't his fault he just didn't have the skill-set.

[tonray]

21 minutes ago, CutiePi said:

Sabastian Gorka as press secretary is my choice.

Maybe 'Secretary of Racism and Xenophobia" 

[tonray]

59 minutes ago, selftaopath said:

I have no sympathy for him or any other liar. They make their choice/s daily. He could have shown credibility and integrity if he quit on his 1st day.

At the end of the day, the only thing you ever really own is your reputation. And he gave his away.

[craigt3365]

14 minutes ago, LannaGuy said:

I must say he was a terrible pick and simply didn't have the comm's skills for that job so, in that respect, it wasn't his fault he just didn't have the skill-set.

Late night TV will never be the same without Sean! LOL

[impulse]

20 minutes ago, LannaGuy said:

I must say he was a terrible pick and simply didn't have the comm's skills for that job so, in that respect, it wasn't his fault he just didn't have the skill-set.

 

Show me a decent person who does.

 

[tonray]

I think part of why he was a crappy Press Sec was that he had serious internal conflicts about lying. I am not defending him because he could have quit week 1 but he was a terrible liar from the start. Ms. Huckabee-Sanders seems to be a natural..when she pretends not to understand the question and cocks her head sideways like your dog when he watches you sing in the shower.

 

Good Riddance to all of them...eventually.

Edited July 22, 2017 by tonray

[attrayant]

He's a Young Earth Creationist, too.  That makes him perfect for the job - he'll believe and say just about anything.

 

Trump's New Communications Director Believes the Earth is 5,500 Years Old

[Thakkar]

 

Oh Sean, we hardly knew ye! You aspired to bullish!t greatness, but the Trump Bullsh!t mountain was too high and steep for the likes of ye.

 

Fare thee well, dear friend, fare thee well.

 

NEXT! Trump's bullish!t mountain must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of hapless press secretaries.

 

T

 

[tonray]

3 minutes ago, attrayant said:

He's a Young Earth Creationist, too.  That makes him perfect for the job - he'll believe and say just about anything.

 

Trump's New Communications Director Believes the Earth is 5,500 Years Old

I've met expats down in ASOK older than that.

[iReason]

Right out of the gate, this mouthpiece comes with lies and propaganda, and a cringeworthy  "Tweet":

 

Financier Anthony Scaramucci accepts Trump offer to head White House communications

 

"Scaramucci said in his own statement,

“President Trump has accomplished an incredible amount in a short period of time,

and I am proud to join his Administration as he continues to deliver for the American people.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-expected-wall-street-financier-anthony-scaramucci-white/story?id=48763384

 

 

This pathetic bootlicker is gonna make Spicey look like a saint...

[impulse]

12 minutes ago, tonray said:

I've met expats down in ASOK older than that.

 

No, they were in their 30's.  That's what a few months in Soi Cowboy will do to a fella'.

 

[iReason]

22 minutes ago, attrayant said:

He's a Young Earth Creationist, too.  That makes him perfect for the job - he'll believe and say just about anything.

Trump's New Communications Director Believes the Earth is 5,500 Years Old

 

"CUOMO: But you don’t accept the science [of climate change]. Let me just move on to something else, though, which is—"

 

"SCARAMUCCI: But you’re saying that you do, and you’re saying the scientific community knows, and I’m saying people have gotten things wrong throughout the 5,500-year history of our planet."

 

[baboon]

13 minutes ago, iReason said:

 

"CUOMO: But you don’t accept the science [of climate change]. Let me just move on to something else, though, which is—"

 

"SCARAMUCCI: But you’re saying that you do, and you’re saying the scientific community knows, and I’m saying people have gotten things wrong throughout the 5,500-year history of our planet."

 

So what? What is so ridiculous about believing the world began after the domestication of the dog? 

[Thakkar]

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Trump settled on Scaramucci, 53, a political supporter and former Goldman Sachs banker, for the head media job

I thought rats were supposed to *leave* sinking ship, not get on board!

 

Scraamucci is the guy who publicly whined about how everyone was so mean to billionaire Wall St bankers who nearly tanked the world economy.

 

What a rat. Him and Trump family deserve each other.

 

T

[klauskunkel]

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Scaramucci told reporters, "I love the president. I love the team."

Well Mr. President, looks like you got a lover, not a fighter.

..., but he didn't say he loves God, America and the tax payers, nope, did not say that.

[JHolmesJr]

1 hour ago, CutiePi said:

Sabastian Gorka as press secretary is my choice.

I like it…this guy takes no shit from anyone.

[smotherb]

2 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Melissa McCarthy and SNL did him in. ?

Having to defend the indefensible did him in.