Spice World THE 4 CRAZIEST MOMENTS FROM SEAN SPICER’S MIND-BENDING PRESS CONFERENCEdrwho.virtadpt.net/files/2017-03/4-craziest-moments.pdf · 2017. 3. 26. · attempt to “pivot”

Spice World

THE 4 CRAZIEST MOMENTS FROM SEAN SPICER’SMIND-BENDING PRESS CONFERENCEThis goes way beyond “alternative facts.”

BY T I N A N G U Y E NMARCH 20, 2017 5:06 PM

T H E 4 C R A Z I E S T M O M E N T S F R O M S E A N S P I C E R ’ S M I N D - B E N D I N G P R E S S C O N F E R E N …

The 4 Craziest Moments from Sean Spicer’s Mind... http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/03/sean-spic...

1 of 8 03/26/2017 10:37 AM

Sean Spicer may be the White House press secretary, but as he continues to

defend Donald Trump's conspiracy theories and falsehoods, one has to wonder if

the former Republican National Committee communications director and party

strategist is also a quantum physicist, so committed is he to testing the boundaries

of reality. If so, he deserves a Nobel Prize for his achievements on Monday, when,

shortly after F.B.I. director James Comey confirmed during a House Intelligence

Committee hearing that there was indeed a federal investigation into the ties between the

Trump campaign and the Russian government, Spicer made several mind-boggling

proclamations intended to defend the Trump administration while simultaneously making

absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Below are the four craziest moments from Monday’s descent into Spice World, an alternative

fact political universe with ever-changing rules.

1. Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, was only a “volunteer” for

By Molly Riley/AFP/Getty Images.



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During the campaign, Flynn was a top adviser and, at one point, was vetted to become Trump’s

running mate. He later accepted a job as national security adviser, one of the most important

roles in the West Wing, before resigning 24 days into the new administration, after it was

revealed that he had not been entirely forthcoming about his conversations with Russian

ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

“General Flynn was a volunteer of the campaign,” Spicer said on Monday, brushing off

concerns that Flynn had been a high-level Trump campaign adviser with any degree of

influence while maintaining ties to Russia.

2. Former campaign manager Paul Manafort had only a “limited role”

Back in the halcyon days of 2016, Paul Manafort was considered among the most powerful

advisers in Trump’s orbit, after the longtime strategist was brought onboard the campaign to

plot a brokered convention strategy, replacing Corey Lewandowski as Trump’s presidential

campaign adviser after he won the nomination. In the following months, he oversaw the

attempt to “pivot” Trump from a blustery populist firebrand into a sober, more “presidential”

general election candidate, but he was forced to resign after The New York Times reported that

$12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments had been earmarked for the former lobbyist from a

pro-Russian political party in Ukraine. (Manafort has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.)

Manafort’s tenure as campaign manager—during which the R.N.C. changed its official policy

on Ukraine—was naturally raised during the briefing, which overlapped a House Intelligence

Committee hearing on the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. “There has been discussion of

Paul Manafort, who played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time,” Spicer said,

retroactively demoting Manafort. Even Stalin was more subtle when he airbrushed Nikolai

Yezhov out of existence.

Later, after he was called out on downplaying Manafort’s role, Spicer insisted that Manafort

was part of the campaign for only eight weeks, between June and August, and said that it was

“ridiculous” to suggest that this meant Manafort had any role in influencing Trump. (In fact,

Manafort, who also lives in Trump Tower, was brought on in February and later returned to

advise the transition.)



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Before the Comey hearing, Trump attempted to divert attention from his own campaign’s

relationship with Russia by claiming on Twitter that Hillary Clinton’s campaign also had

contact with the Russian government. A reporter from the right-wing site One America News

leaped on the tweet during Spicer’s presser, asking him to elaborate. Said Spicer:

There is a whole second set of concerns here in terms of what was Hillary Clinton’s role. When

you look at the Obama history—the Obama administration and the Clinton’s involvement with

Russia in terms of donations that the Clintons received from Russian entities, the idea that they

sold off a tremendous amount of the uranium to the Russian government, and yet where was the

concern for that? What are we doing to look into that?

He then accused the Democratic Party of not looking hard enough at Clinton, a lost soul

wandering the New York woods in obscurity, and instead going after Trump, the leader of the

free world. “What did they get?” Spicer asked of the Russians, noting how Clinton had signed

off on a uranium deal with Russia when she served as secretary of state. The man is just asking

questions!

Trump’s golfing habit is different from Obama’s golfing habit

Sixty days into his presidency, Trump, who frequently criticized Obama for occasionally

golfing instead of working, has played 10 rounds of golf during his weekends away from the

White House. At this rate, should he remain in office for two terms, he will have played 480

rounds of golf, a number far and beyond the 306 rounds that Obama played while in the White

House.

When asked why Trump’s golf habit was acceptable while Obama’s was worthy of criticism,

Spicer argued that Trump was, in fact, multitasking. “You saw him utilize this as an

opportunity with [Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe] to help foster a deeper relationship in

Southeast Asia, in Asia rather, and have a growing relationship that’s going to help U.S.

interests,” Spicer said.“On a couple of occasions he’s actually conducted meetings there, he’s

had phone calls. Just because he heads there doesn’t mean that’s what’s happening.” He did not

provide other examples.



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VIDEO: Sean Spicer, the Voice of the White House

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REFRESH



5 of 8 03/26/2017 10:37 AM

Tina Nguyen is a reporter for The Hive, covering politics and the media.

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Spice World THE 4 CRAZIEST MOMENTS FROM SEAN SPICER’S MIND-BENDING PRESS CONFERENCEdrwho.virtadpt.net/files/2017-03/4-craziest-moments.pdf · 2017. 3. 26. · attempt to “pivot”