So here is that exchange between the reporter and Sean Spicer courtesy of the Washington Post:
Journalist: Getting back to Saturday at the CIA and your statement here at the podium. Why make this crowd side issue -- or crowd size issue something to talk about at all? I mean, why get into it? Did it bother the president that much that he felt that you needed to come out here and straighten that out for us? And why did he choose the CIA as the venue to talk about that?
Spicer:Look, I think that one of the things that happened, Jim, was he kept hearing about this rift that existed.
He talked about it a couple of weeks ago at his briefing about how proud he is and how much he respects the intelligence community. And I think when he walked into that and he saw it, he wanted to make sure that people knew that what you're hearing on television or in reports about this rift -- I -- I have the utmost respect for you, I honor your service, I'm proud of what you're doing and the sacrifices that you're making.
And I think that he wanted them to know that you see and hear all of this stuff on T.V. about this rift that so-called exists and clearly it doesn't matter; like, don't believe what you're hearing, know that I -- I -- I have a tremendous amount of respect for you, I appreciate everything that you are doing.
And I think that's why he wanted to do it is to make sure that they understand they heard first hand how much he respects them. How much he wanted to dispel the myth that there was a "rift."
Journalist:But -- but in terms of the crowd size issue, why bring that up at the CIA? And why did you come out Saturday afternoon to talk about that? Did he tell you, Sean, I'm upset about this, I want you to come out and --
Spicer: No, I'm not going to get into conversations that I have with the president. But I will tell you that it's not -- it's not just about a crowd size. It's about this constant -- you know, he's not going to run. Then if he runs, he's going to drop out. Then if he runs, he can't win, there's no way he can win Pennsylvania, there's no way he can win Michigan.
Spicer: Then, if won, it's oh, well he(ph) -- there is this constant theme to undercut the enormous support that he has. And I think that it's just unbelievably frustrating when you're continually told it's not big enough, it's not good enough, you can't win.
Journalist: And -- and if I may --
Spicer: Hold on -- because I -- I think it's important. He's gone out there and defied the odds over and over and over again. And he keeps getting told what he can't do by this narrative that's out there. And he exceeds it every single time. And I think there's an overall frustration when you -- when you turn on the television over and over again and get told that there's this narrative that you didn't win. You weren't going to run. You can't pick up this state.
That's not -- you know, that's a fool's errand to go to Pennsylvania. Why is he in Michigan? How silly, they'll never vote for a him. A Republican hasn't won that state since '88. And then he goes and he does it and then what's the next narrative? Well, it must have been because of this. He didn't win that. And then people aren't attending anything or John Lewis is the first person to skip his inauguration. Not true.
And over and over again, the MLK bust. (What is with these assholes and that MLK bust? The reporter apologized for making that mistake, but these guys simply CANNOT leave it alone.) I think over and over again there's this constant attempt to undermine his credibility and the movement that he represents. And it's frustrating for not just him, but I think so many of us that are trying to work to get this message out. And so I mentioned this to John, part of this is a two- way street. We want to have a healthy dialogue, not just with you but the American people because he's fighting for jobs, he's fighting to make this country safer.
But when you're constantly getting told that can't be true, we doubt that you can do this, this won't happen, and that's the narrative when you turn on television every single day, it's a little frustrating.
And I think that for those people around him, his senior team especially, but so many of the other folks that are either here in the administration, that gave up their time during the transition, they left a job to work for three or four weeks because they are so committed to having his nominees get through, it's a little demoralizing to turn on the TV day after day and hear, can't do this, this guy's not going to get confirmed, not way they're going to go through. Journalist: But isn't that just part of the conversation that happens in Washington...
Spicer: No, it's not. I think...
Journalist: ... in D.C., that comes from being president of the United States and working at the White House?
Spicer: No. No, look, I've been doing this a long time, you've been doing this too. I've never seen it like this, Jim, (Was he unconscious during the Obama presidency?) I've never -- and again, I'm not looking to go back and forth, but you're asking for an explanation. And I think that it's important to understand, that whether it's the president himself, the vice president, the senior team, the volunteers or the people who are out there just in America that voted for him or walked the streets or put up a sign, that to constantly be told no, no, no and watch him go yes, yes, yes every time and to come up to the next hurdle and see someone put a block up gets a little frustrating. And I think that we are -- and so, you see this historic thing. And he stands there at the Capitol and I was not that close but, you know, on the platform, and you look out and all your -- it's an amazing view. And it's just so many people who got in long lines, who had to go around all this different stuff to get in. And that was for the first time that we did have to go through fencing that far out. And then to hear, "Well, look at this shot," and it's not -- "It wasn't that big." It's a little demoralizing because when you're sitting there and you're looking out and you're in awe of just how awesome that view is and how many people are there and you go back and you turn on the television and you see shots of comparing this and that. And then you look at the stuff that's happening.
Do you believe that shit?
Remember this is the press secretary for the guy who led the charge in calling our last President illegitimate and forced him to show his fucking birth certificate.
How fucking demoralizing do you think that was for President Obama to have to prove to Donald Trump and the Right Wing that he was even allowed to be the President?
Not only that but literally EVER SINGLE THING Obama tried to do was met with a wall of resistance that would not even consider what he was proposing and both hated it and argued against it before he could even propose it.
So for Trump, and his own personal Baghdad Bob, to come out sobbing about unfair treatment by the press, that is beyond pathetic.
Earlier in the press conference Spicer also defended his lie about more people watching Trump's inauguration than ANY other inauguration, by pivoting to include online viewership which apparently cannot be tracked.
That is two press briefings, and two times this administration outright lied about facts and bitched about how they were being treated by the press.
Apparently this is the new normal.
Source http://ift.tt/2kbh05Q
Journalist: Getting back to Saturday at the CIA and your statement here at the podium. Why make this crowd side issue -- or crowd size issue something to talk about at all? I mean, why get into it? Did it bother the president that much that he felt that you needed to come out here and straighten that out for us? And why did he choose the CIA as the venue to talk about that?
Spicer:Look, I think that one of the things that happened, Jim, was he kept hearing about this rift that existed.
He talked about it a couple of weeks ago at his briefing about how proud he is and how much he respects the intelligence community. And I think when he walked into that and he saw it, he wanted to make sure that people knew that what you're hearing on television or in reports about this rift -- I -- I have the utmost respect for you, I honor your service, I'm proud of what you're doing and the sacrifices that you're making.
And I think that he wanted them to know that you see and hear all of this stuff on T.V. about this rift that so-called exists and clearly it doesn't matter; like, don't believe what you're hearing, know that I -- I -- I have a tremendous amount of respect for you, I appreciate everything that you are doing.
And I think that's why he wanted to do it is to make sure that they understand they heard first hand how much he respects them. How much he wanted to dispel the myth that there was a "rift."
Journalist:But -- but in terms of the crowd size issue, why bring that up at the CIA? And why did you come out Saturday afternoon to talk about that? Did he tell you, Sean, I'm upset about this, I want you to come out and --
Spicer: No, I'm not going to get into conversations that I have with the president. But I will tell you that it's not -- it's not just about a crowd size. It's about this constant -- you know, he's not going to run. Then if he runs, he's going to drop out. Then if he runs, he can't win, there's no way he can win Pennsylvania, there's no way he can win Michigan.
Spicer: Then, if won, it's oh, well he(ph) -- there is this constant theme to undercut the enormous support that he has. And I think that it's just unbelievably frustrating when you're continually told it's not big enough, it's not good enough, you can't win.
Journalist: And -- and if I may --
Spicer: Hold on -- because I -- I think it's important. He's gone out there and defied the odds over and over and over again. And he keeps getting told what he can't do by this narrative that's out there. And he exceeds it every single time. And I think there's an overall frustration when you -- when you turn on the television over and over again and get told that there's this narrative that you didn't win. You weren't going to run. You can't pick up this state.
That's not -- you know, that's a fool's errand to go to Pennsylvania. Why is he in Michigan? How silly, they'll never vote for a him. A Republican hasn't won that state since '88. And then he goes and he does it and then what's the next narrative? Well, it must have been because of this. He didn't win that. And then people aren't attending anything or John Lewis is the first person to skip his inauguration. Not true.
And over and over again, the MLK bust. (What is with these assholes and that MLK bust? The reporter apologized for making that mistake, but these guys simply CANNOT leave it alone.) I think over and over again there's this constant attempt to undermine his credibility and the movement that he represents. And it's frustrating for not just him, but I think so many of us that are trying to work to get this message out. And so I mentioned this to John, part of this is a two- way street. We want to have a healthy dialogue, not just with you but the American people because he's fighting for jobs, he's fighting to make this country safer.
But when you're constantly getting told that can't be true, we doubt that you can do this, this won't happen, and that's the narrative when you turn on television every single day, it's a little frustrating.
And I think that for those people around him, his senior team especially, but so many of the other folks that are either here in the administration, that gave up their time during the transition, they left a job to work for three or four weeks because they are so committed to having his nominees get through, it's a little demoralizing to turn on the TV day after day and hear, can't do this, this guy's not going to get confirmed, not way they're going to go through. Journalist: But isn't that just part of the conversation that happens in Washington...
Spicer: No, it's not. I think...
Journalist: ... in D.C., that comes from being president of the United States and working at the White House?
Spicer: No. No, look, I've been doing this a long time, you've been doing this too. I've never seen it like this, Jim, (Was he unconscious during the Obama presidency?) I've never -- and again, I'm not looking to go back and forth, but you're asking for an explanation. And I think that it's important to understand, that whether it's the president himself, the vice president, the senior team, the volunteers or the people who are out there just in America that voted for him or walked the streets or put up a sign, that to constantly be told no, no, no and watch him go yes, yes, yes every time and to come up to the next hurdle and see someone put a block up gets a little frustrating. And I think that we are -- and so, you see this historic thing. And he stands there at the Capitol and I was not that close but, you know, on the platform, and you look out and all your -- it's an amazing view. And it's just so many people who got in long lines, who had to go around all this different stuff to get in. And that was for the first time that we did have to go through fencing that far out. And then to hear, "Well, look at this shot," and it's not -- "It wasn't that big." It's a little demoralizing because when you're sitting there and you're looking out and you're in awe of just how awesome that view is and how many people are there and you go back and you turn on the television and you see shots of comparing this and that. And then you look at the stuff that's happening.
Do you believe that shit?
Remember this is the press secretary for the guy who led the charge in calling our last President illegitimate and forced him to show his fucking birth certificate.
How fucking demoralizing do you think that was for President Obama to have to prove to Donald Trump and the Right Wing that he was even allowed to be the President?
Not only that but literally EVER SINGLE THING Obama tried to do was met with a wall of resistance that would not even consider what he was proposing and both hated it and argued against it before he could even propose it.
So for Trump, and his own personal Baghdad Bob, to come out sobbing about unfair treatment by the press, that is beyond pathetic.
Earlier in the press conference Spicer also defended his lie about more people watching Trump's inauguration than ANY other inauguration, by pivoting to include online viewership which apparently cannot be tracked.
That is two press briefings, and two times this administration outright lied about facts and bitched about how they were being treated by the press.
Apparently this is the new normal.
Source http://ift.tt/2kbh05Q