How Sean Spicer’s Weekend Stunt Helped Undermine Years’ Worth of Work Exposing Media Bias
Now that we are past the immediate fallout over Sean Spicer’s weekend lie-stravaganza about Inauguration crowd numbers, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the intentions behind, and effect of, Spicer’s stunt.
Since the time Spicer marched out almost shouting at reporters, conservatives have been debating this question: which should we be more upset about right now? Spicer’s performance on Saturday? Or eight years of media bias against Republicans and in favor of Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats?
You want a hot take? Here it is, scorching hot and spicy: we should be more upset at Spicer, at least right now — precisely because of the last eight years of media bias.
That’s a controversial statement — or at least I hope it is! We’re going for a take that is en fuego here. So let me explain by first taking a Giant Step Backward so we can see the Bigger Picture.
It’s impossible to understand what Spicer did except through the lens of eight years of Big Media swooning over Barack Obama.
The infatuation began during Obama’s 2008 campaign. He was the Lightworker. Chris Matthews got a tingle in his leg. David Brooks was impressed by the crease of Obama’s pant leg. Is all this sounding familiar?
Surveys showed that overwhelming numbers of journalists voted for Obama — no surprise, as surveys always show that journalists are overwhelmingly of the left. And their coverage showed it. Hugely inflated estimates of the number of uninsured were touted to push Obama’s health care law, while concerns about it costing too much or jeopardizing people’s coverage were pooh-poohed by the same fact-checkers who refused to rate “true” a claim by Ted Cruz that the tax code has more words than the Bible, and even rated “false” a claim by Carly Fiorina (I went from secretary to CEO) — both claims that were factually 100% true.
If Democrats ever had a valid complaint about bad behavior by Republicans, the story would be about the Republicans’ bad behavior. But if Republicans had a valid complaint about bad behavior by Democrats, the Big Media version of the story would focus on how Republicans “seized” on the Democrats’ behavior for political advantage. And like clockwork, talking heads would immediately begin speculating about whether Republicans would “overreach.”
And citizens concerned about the coarsening of our culture, threats to our constitutional rights of gun ownership, or the disappearance of morality from the public square were characterized by Our Media Betters (and Obama) as ignorant, ball-scratching hayseeds, “bitterly clinging” to our guns and religion.
You can treat half the voting public with this level of scorn and contempt for only so long, before they say: enough is enough.
Many on the right have been waiting for someone on the right to push back, and push back hard, against the bias in media. When Ted Cruz, in one of the Republican debates, took the moderator to task for a series of biased questions, the excitement in the room was palpable. Conservatives across the country rose to their feet in front of their television sets and began applauding and cheering in their living rooms, while their kids cast sidelong looks at each other and said: “Dad’s going crazy again.”
That’s what it was like in my household, anyway.
Conservatives think we need pushback against the media — and we are right.
This sort of thinking, I am certain, was behind the extraordinary aggression towards the media shown by Sean Spicer (and subsequently, on “the shows,” by Reince Priebus) this past weekend. Had Spicer stuck to his valid complaint about a bogus story from a snide Big Media loudmouth regarding a bust of MLK being removed from the Oval Office (it hadn’t been), Spicer would have deserved the standing O that we all gave Cruz during that moment in the debates.
But of course, the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft a-gley when Donald Trump gets involved.
Butthurt over the fact that Obama’s (Inauguration crowd) was way bigger than his, Trump dispatched Spicer to tell a pack of lies. After all, angry and oft-repeated lies worked for Trump in the campaign. Why not as President?
Here’s the problem: by sending out Spicer to scream about the press about a trivial issue while getting all the facts wrong, Trump has undermined years’ worth of legitimate criticism of the media by conservatives. Now, when we talk about Big Media bias, and try to make the case to undecided voters that they should reject slanted stories from the giant newspapers and networks, Big Media can simply point to Spicer’s press conference as an object example of how all of our complaints are (supposedly) bogus.
The stupid way Spicer came out swinging over nonsense, with all the facts against him, shows he is willing to be loyal to Trump — but not, unfortunately, to the truth.
Fundamentally, it’s wrong to stand at the White House podium and tell stupid, provable lies (or, in the memorable words of Kellyanne Conway, “alternative facts”).
But behind that, it’s hard for me to believe that this is an effective way to win over undecided voters. Smashing your own credibility is not usually thought to be an effective communications strategy.
This is reversible, in theory, if Spicer and the rest of Trump’s communications team start to elevate their fealty to the truth over their loyalty to Trump.
I said “in theory.”
[Cross-posted at RedState and at The Jury Talks Back, my site with a respectful and civil comment section.]
[UPDATED to note Ted Cruz’s claim regarding the Bible and the tax code was not rated “false” — a fact-checker just refused to rate it true.]
No he didn’t have all the details about sores astroturfed fraud trek, the involvement of cairs sarsour and the spec, Linda moulton curious history, but the work at deligitimating the inaugural had to start somewhere.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 7:21 amThose that have cheered on Trump from the beginning don’t care, and some Republicans that jumped on the Trump train after the primaries simply want to adopt an eye for an eye position and use every dirty trick the Democrats used the last 8 years against them out of spite—including telling lies because they benefit your narrative—because they’re the enemy and must be crushed.
Honestly, I’m tired of the childish attitudes and sophomoric antics.
Sean (e3e12b) — 1/24/2017 @ 7:24 amThe photographic evidence is clear, they took the picture when the tarps were up, meaning they were just setting up.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 7:30 amIts a kerfluffle.
“Undecided voters”?? Next election is …..?
Trump’s Presidency will rise or fall based on his actions, and results. Media strategy is a sideshow.
Look how this played out: Spicer does what he does on Saturday. On Sunday the media is agitated and doesn’t seem to want to talk about anything else. But the fight with the media is red meat for Trump’s base, and reinforces his “triangulation” gambit in the opening days.
I don’t think Trump’s base cares much who is right and who is wrong on the facts here — they applaud the fight, and that he took it to the media. Right and wrong will be lost in the sands of time, but the dynamic is set.
I’ve had a little different take on Conway’s “alternative facts”. As the host knows, and most other attorneys who file court documents or participate in hearings and trials, the “fact finder” in those circumstances is very often presented with two “versions” of what happened in the disputed event. And its very often the case that both versions have a lot of “truth” in them, but there are aspects that are shaded towards the preferred narrative of the respective parties. That’s where the “fact finder”es into play.
So, if it was true — as the media and all the Spicer/Conway critics was to assert — that there are only “facts” and “lies”, then those sorts of situations wouldn’t take place in a courtroom.
The “fact” is that what the media put out in its stories on a daily basis aren’t necessarily “facts”. And I think the efforts this past weekend by the WH to aggressively respond to the “Obama’s was bigger than your’s” meme which the media was aggressively pushing on Saturday, was nothing more than an effort to not let the media set the “facts” with their biased narrative.
If I was a strategist, my view would be that “We can’t let the media choose the ground we fight on simply because they get to go first in trying to set the narrative on the issue of the day.” But the risk in that strategy is rushing out to counter the media narrative before having a solid footing to do so. That’s what Spicer did — he was given information that wasn’t accurate, I think he knew or feared it wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny, and he went with it anyway.
I said on Sunday that it was the wrong topic to fight on simply because it was too meaningless.
I would have counseled them to respond to the “attendance” issue by pointing out that given the vote totals, its likely a good number of people who attended the 2009 and 2013 inaugurations of Obama voted for Trump in 2016. And the polling confirms that. The votes spoke louder than their appearance on the mall.
But, as a general proposition, this episode will be meaningless in 3 days to all except those who obsess over it. Its going to be overtaken by events — some good and some not so good.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 1/24/2017 @ 7:34 amAll Spicer had to do was point out how ridiculous the media was behaving; he didn’t need to argue over crowd sizes, metro rider numbers, and the rest. Just point out the ridiculousness of making something so trivial a major media story, admonish them for being idiots, and move on to the next subject. The fact that he wanted to argue to prove an easily disprovable point is the problem. If the White House is going to go to the mattresses over every small slight of Trump, and have no qualms about doing so even when it means lying about the facts, then it’s going to be a very long 4 years.
Sean (e3e12b) — 1/24/2017 @ 7:36 amThis is getting silly.
CNN has a billion pixel photo of the inauguration which shows far more in the audience (use your arrow keys to move around the picture). I would also be questioning the Metro figures.
http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2017/01/politics/trump-inauguration-gigapixel/
Davod (f3a711) — 1/24/2017 @ 7:37 amHow about Neil gorsuch as the new dark horse candidate for the court?
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 7:39 amSo the crowfstrike report was near beer, the dossier was something better written in crayon, and that other narrative floundered.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 7:46 amByron York sort of gets it.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 7:50 amnarciso, I read that story about Neil Gorsuch yesterday. He sounds like a solid nominee.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 1/24/2017 @ 7:53 amyes yes I’m sure the “trustworthy” poll numbers for the failmerican propaganda sluts are gonna shoot through the roof cause of this
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2017 @ 7:54 amAs I said the other day, I think Spicer ought to have responded to inquiries about crowd size by saying, “The American people have elected us to tackle big important issues such as job creation, the economy, foreign trade, immigration, Obamacare, and fighting Islamic terrorism. The American people don’t want to see us wasting our time arguing about silly stuff such as crowd size, so if you have any questions about substantive issues, I’ll be happy to engage with you.“
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 1/24/2017 @ 7:57 amThe proper reaction was to put the ap at the bottom of the press queue
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 8:01 amMAGA Trumps MEGO.
Every complaint about the silly words spoken by a press hack makes My Eyes Glaze Over.
The more the press strains on gnats, the less seriously they are taken. It’s a net good, really.
Steven Malynn (e7c59c) — 1/24/2017 @ 8:07 amI have decided that henceforth to the degree possible I am going to spend the majority my internet time watching full interviews and events from original sources such as Cspan for my information and to make my own analysis. I am not going to rely on clips that somebody somewhere with their own agenda and biases chooses and then interprets or edits for me. I watched live the entire first official White House daily briefing with Spicer and the media yesterday. It was quite interesting. Afterwards, and up to this posting I have not found any blog or media source that I felt truly and adequately represented the meat of what was asked and answered and said and clarified in the confines of that briefing. There were a lot of subjects and ideas and substantive policy positions covered in a fair amount of detail. How many people actually know that and what they were?
elissa (4dbee6) — 1/24/2017 @ 8:15 amThe new York post and CNN got dibs and Skype papers are getting theu
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 8:15 amCbn, bad autocorrect, the treehouse those pamphletters with an edge has a good review
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 8:17 amWhat elissa said.
Steven Malynn (e7c59c) — 1/24/2017 @ 8:37 amGreetings:
I used to be sweet on a woman who had an elderly Cocker Spaniel dog that liked to rub its bum on a rough piece of concrete outside her back door to to achieve its bliss-state. Certainly, the impression I got from the media types on last evening’s “Charlie Rosie” interview program on the Progressive (née Public) Broadcasting System was quite similar. They are marvelously adept at winning arguments when the opposition has not been invited to participate.
Mr. Spicer gave himself a probably needlessly rough start in his new responsibilities. But several weeks back, I saw him interviewed by PBS’s Judy Woodruff wherein he challenged the basis of her question so effectively that she gagged in the way that one does when one throws up in one’s mouth.
As President Lincoln said about General Grant, “he fights”. Grant didn’t win all his battles he just won the war. Yesterday was a bad day on the media battlefield but I thnk that better days are coming.
P.S. I continue to enjoy the way the media avoids any analogies with the previous eight Obama years. it’s kind of like a mass amnesia or a collective “Let’s not go there.”. One could easily get the impression that there were no missteps or even questionable steps during that period. So perhaps the analysis should be “Alternate Facts or No Facts, Which Would Be Worse ???”
11B40 (6abb5c) — 1/24/2017 @ 8:47 amThe public has a short memory and that press conference is already forgotten. It didn’t erase anything, much less eight years. All Spicer has to do is wait for another media screw up and do the exact same thing, except have the facts right. He could have done that if he had stuck to the issue of the disappearing Martin Luther King bust and kept away from the crowd size dispute.
Pro Lifer (5c0d46) — 1/24/2017 @ 8:50 amThe new York post got some of it.
narciso (99597d) — 1/24/2017 @ 9:12 amActually, it appears that Spicer was correct in saying that Trump’s inauguration was the most watched ever, because of the additional avenues to watch now available that were not available at the time of Reagan’s 1st inauguration, including much more widespread cable television and live streaming on the internet.
Nobody in the media has challenged it yet, though I’m sure polifactchecktruefactsnopespolichecktruefact is working as hard as they can right now to come up with some way of reinterpreting/distorting reality so they can award that statement by Spicer at least 3 pinocchiopantsonfirethumbsdowns.
Evan3457 (9783e9) — 1/24/2017 @ 9:15 amThe pipeline orders will give skydragon worshipers something to crow about, re the fray trek in all the Putin parallels did they note it didn’t work over there.
narciso (99597d) — 1/24/2017 @ 9:24 amthe more activist trash you can confine to some pasture on some ghetto-assed reservation in north dakota, the better off real Americans are going to be
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2017 @ 9:28 amHe should simply have pointed out that of course 0bama’s crowd was bigger, it would be astonishing if it were not bigger, there was never any prospect of Trump’s crowd reaching that level, and it’s foolish to read anything into it.
Milhouse (40ca7b) — 1/24/2017 @ 9:46 am“by sending out Spicer to scream about the press about a trivial issue while getting all the facts wrong, Trump has undermined years’ worth of legitimate criticism of the media by conservatives.”
With whom? Legitimate criticism of prog fodder propaganda published by various Minitrue outlets didn’t defeat Clinton and elect Trump. Trump Brand Prole Fodder!©®™ did the trick with about the same ratio of “truth” as has ever been found in Prog Fodder. Orwell recognized the ease with which the proles could get rid of Big Brother – if they could be motivated to do so.
Rick Ballard (1c0700) — 1/24/2017 @ 9:58 amToday’s Daily White House Press briefing starts at 1:30 EST on Cspan
Also:
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Note: The Ras Daily tracking poll is worth watching for trends –not necessarily for insight or to “take it to the bank” on a particular day. We will definitely want to watch the “country right direction/wrong direction ” number trends over the next couple months.
elissa (4dbee6) — 1/24/2017 @ 10:23 amelissa (4dbee6) — 1/24/2017 @ 8:15 am
That never is the case. I noticed that around 1971. Compare a speech you watched with the way it’s reported. Any time there is any kind of condensing going on, important things are left out.
Sammy Finkelman (8cff4d) — 1/24/2017 @ 10:45 am=== There were a lot of subjects and ideas and substantive policy positions covered in a fair amount of detail. How many people actually know that and what they were ===
The most important thing was that British Prime Minister Theresa May was going to visit the white House on Friday. And not even on Friday, she was going to attend the Republican Congressional retreat in Pennsylvanis on Thursday and see Trump there.
Right after the election Theresa May tried to call up Donald Trump to congratulate him, but wasn’t put through. She eventually did. Trump tweeted that she should see him the next time she visted the United States (like she was going to come for some other reason – the only other reason would be the session of the United Nations, but that’s in September. What did he think – she might come to New York for shopping or to see some old friends or to give a speech?
While Prime Minister?)
She took that an invitation. Trump also said that Nigel Farage would make a good Ambassador from the U.K. The British PM’s office gently noted that there was no vacancy and I think Farage was not as important in the U.K. as Trump seemed to think.
Then in January Trump tweeted he would see her in the spring.
https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/817915516018892805
And now it’s really been pushed up.
First, of course, what’s public is that Theresa May is concerned about how to proceed wiith Brexit and feels encourage by Trump wanting to have a trade deal. The trade deal would go into effect when Britain quit the common market. Trump is apparently not against trade deals, but wants them to be bilateral not multi-lateral. There is also the fact that Trump’s mother was from Scotland and lived there till age 18 and always was interested in the Queen. He likes to consider himself alf-British – like Winston Churchill, I suppose. And Churchill once wanted some kind of union of the English speaking people’s.
But I think the reason this visit is really being pushed up is in order for Theresa May to discuss the dossier with Trump without any risk of Putin eavesdropping.
She’s probably going to tell him that they interrogated Christopher Steele quite thoroughly about what who his sources were, and what he did to get the information, and they’ve concluded that it wasn’t made up by Fusion GPS, and it wasn’t made up by Christopher Steele on his own, but this was all genuine Russian disinformation, that nearly certainly had to be approved of at the highest level of the Russian government, especially since there’s been no shake-up
Steele probably led them to believe that he was still working for British ntelligence, and they’ll have his exacr story and notes; or he allowed them to assume that he was, or that he was working for someone important in British politics.
And she’s probably going to say they think the purpose of all this disinformation, about Trump’s supposed investments byTrump in Russian entities, and about the bed Obama had slept on, and
about the meeting(s?) in Prague to discuss hacking the Democrats, was to divide Britain from the United States in the event of a Trump Administration. She’s going to have very original and detailed information with solid arguments to back it up.
It’s got to be something like that. Something has to explain this rush to meet Trump. Whatever she says, whatever she says has got to be in person to avoid the possibility of being bugged or the communications intercepted or turned over by someone in goverment to Vladimir Putin.
Sammy Finkelman (dec35d) — 1/24/2017 @ 10:54 amA few media outlets said that Spicer’s appearance was much better on Monday, as did shipwrecjedcrew in another thread, which he didn’t repeat here.
Reporters still got things wrong, like thinking Spicer talking about the worldwide audience was something new for Monday. He also had said that on Saturday.
(Neilsen ratings were higher for Reagan in 1981 and Obama in 2009, but Spicer argues Reagan didn’t have YouTube Of course, if you mean to include the non-live audience, the later audience, of post-World War II inaugural addresses, John F. Kennedy’s 1961 speech is remembered best or at least one line in it is)
Sammy Finkelman (dec35d) — 1/24/2017 @ 10:55 amelissa (4dbee6) — 1/24/2017 @ 10:23 am
That’s different from the percentage of people polled who have a favorable opinion of Donald Trump personally.
When it comes to his actual actions as president, he;s being very careful and cautious, ith an eye not to stimulating a great dealof opposition also.
Sammy Finkelman (dec35d) — 1/24/2017 @ 11:04 amDr. Gorka to the Nsc, seems a poor trade off to harf
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 11:37 amEvery once in a while I think the world can’t get any stupider.
http://www.bizpacreview.com/2017/01/24/fox-news-hires-fmr-state-dept-spox-marie-harf-viewers-not-happy-heres-439443
Then the world fixes me.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 1/24/2017 @ 11:41 amI am so glad I cancelled my cable.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 1/24/2017 @ 11:42 amSpicer needs a better barber.
A brown shirt and armband with that haircut he has now and he’d pass for a stormtrooper extra in Spielberg’s ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2017 @ 11:43 amJeeez Patterico – really – ? Oh – so – one press conference and Trump lost the war against the MSM? According to whom? The MSM? You? The Democrats ( OK I am being redundant), blah, blah blah. You know I haven’t stopped in here in months – and now I remember why – the ridiculous deranged #nevertrump-ism is still alive and well here. For what reason I do not know except to assist the SJW socialist democrat cabal in its attempt to subvert the current administration So . . . Trump, in merely a few days on the job, has frozen federal rule making, frozen federal hiring *(and thus already reduced the size of the federal bureaucracy)* grennlighted the Keystone and Dakota pipelines, reinstated the Mexico City Rule, saved a truck load of jobs, bypassed the MSM and has gone directly to the people – as well as starting the process of winning over big labor !!!! . . . . and your issue!?? Spicer did a bad job (according to you) at his press conference. Really Patterico – you need to hang it up and everyone who reads this site should go somewhere else to get to experience opinions and conservative discussions among folks who know what they are talking about – and not deranged lunatics like this who are part of the problem and not the solution and are just aiding and abetting the enemies of western civilization. Me I’m off to Ace of Spades – ta ta all.
Pax Ex
Publius Redux (b7c812) — 1/24/2017 @ 11:44 amI share your distaste for dishonesty, and agree that Trump is very dishonest.
But I don’t see this incident as undermining the fight against media bias. Trump’s combativeness will do more to help the fight against media bias than it will hurt. He’s actually fighting the fight, unlike just about any other Republican we’ve seen holding any office. He’s standing up to the MSM in a lot of ways, including stripping their privileges, which I have wanted to see for a long time (privileges, not rights). The MSM doesn’t get to treat us like dirt for fifty years, and expect respect in return. Bush perhaps lacked sufficient imagination to envision that things don’t have to be this way. If you think a situation is inevitable, you won’t oppose it, you will just figure out how to adapt to it.
The media is supposed to be unbiased 100% of the time–that’s what they claim for themselves. If they can point to a handful of examples where they stand up to Donald Trump in a way that a principled person would stand up to him, that’s great, but they’re SUPPOSED TO be doing that 100% of the time. They shouldn’t get much credit for it. No one with a brain will take away from this scrum that because Donald Trump lies sometimes, it’s okay for the media to be biased against him, or that the media doesn’t really hate him.
I do hope, in vain, that the “alternative facts” thing (where the so-called alternative facts are not actually facts) is sufficiently embarrassing that it stings Trump enough in his ego that he will be less dishonest. A left-biased media that dominates coverage, and culture? It doesn’t have to be that way, that’s a situation we can change. Trump’s dishonesty? That will never change.
My principles cause me to abhor dishonesty when it’s not being deployed as a tool of war or foreign policy. I don’t believe that the wickedness of lying is reflected in the degree to which lying harms the liar. One of the most frustrating things about the Trump administration is going to be how dishonest he is, and how there is no way to change it, no way to bring pressure on him to change it, and how much he accomplishes by it. He’s going to win so much, it’s going to make you sick. He said so himself.
I’m significantly more worried that Trump will have corruption scandals that badly damage the Republican Party’s electoral viability and corrupt our politicians, than I am worried that his dishonesty will damage our electoral viability or corrupt our politicians. The “war on women”/”Republicans are subhuman deplorable hatemongers” thing ran its course long before November. The “Republican culture of corruption” meme is one corruption scandal away from making a comeback, big league. I hope Trump is not just relying on the voters’ lowered expectations about him being corrupt to try to skate by with a few of these scandals.
How do we adapt to Trump, in a way that we can preserve our values, and to keep the Republican Party on-track to have officeholders with good values? How do we, as tea party/conservative/Republican patriots, emerge from the Trump era differently than Democrats are emerging from Obama’s era of hope-n-change? If the only concern was electoral viability, I would say: forget it, the lying doesn’t matter, Trump is a winner. If the only concern was that we would lose fights on important issues, I would say: forget it, the lying doesn’t matter, Trump is killing it on fighting the liberal media. The lying and other lapses of virtue are going to catch up with us in the long term, as they have a corrosive effect on the character of our officeholders (both in terms of corrupting people who get elected, and in encouraging bad people to run for office). That’s like watching the grass grow. It’s not something we can track in real time. Can we mitigate the damage? Can we preserve our principles? I think we have to start by calling out all dishonesty, so I appreciate this post.
A different question might be: do we enjoy all of the winning, or is it fruit of the poisoned tree? I think the answer is: yes, we have a duty to win, because what the Left wants to accomplish is bad, we have a duty to beat them, and we should enjoy beating them. We should take pleasure when Trump routs our enemies, and enjoy not only the victories but also the schadenfreude. We can do that, even while we call out his dishonesty and work to mitigate the long-term damage Trump’s lack of values will inevitably do. We can, and should, find a way to take pleasure in victories in matters of policy and the culture war, without compromising our values. We have to be happy warriors, and we can and must do that without compromising our values (which are manifestly not the same values as Donald Trump lives by).
Daryl Herbert (7be116) — 1/24/2017 @ 11:53 amInteresting story out today that Spicer was not Trump’s preference for the job, but he obviously gave in to Priebus.
Trump wanted a more telegenic person, and preferred a woman for the job. Trump was critical of Spicer’s appearance on Saturday during the infamous “crowd size” statement, and made the comment “Doesn’t he own a dark suit.”
Frankly, I agree with Trump on that point. I don’t think Spicer has made a very good impression from a visual standpoint. The ill-fitting light gray striped suit, with his tie not tightly pulled up to his neck, make him look frumpy and ill-kempt. He’s shaped a bit like a pear anyway, so having an ill-fitting suit is bad form.
Not sure just how big he is, but he’s too short for the WH press room lectern, which comes up to mid-chest, and causes him to stick his elbows outward when he puts his hands on the lectern.
I think Trump had the right instincts — I think it was a real missed opportunity in not naming Laura Ingraham as the Press Secretary. Telegenic, strong, good on policy. She would not have given an inch to the Press Corps, and she’s had plenty of time on national television so she would not shrink in the moment.
Spicer’s background has always been as a PR consultant and strategist. Not every effective strategist belongs in front of the camera. He’s voice is not ideal for the job, he doesn’t look the part physically, and I’m not sure he’s going to be solid on the policy issues at critical times.
I don’t expect him to hold on to the job. He’ll probably keep his job as WH Comm. Director, working closely with Priebus, but I think Trump will follow through with his instinct and give the Press Room a female face.
This news would coincide with Conway’s announcement that she’s going to lower her television profile since she’s now received death threats and need a Secret Service detail for the safety of her and her family.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 1/24/2017 @ 11:55 amIt is much a do about nothing, imho. York realized this on reflection
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 11:56 ami think yours is an astute analysis Mr. crew
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2017 @ 11:58 amKellyanne, dont do it – stay the course. I heard she held her own during some kerfuffle at an inauguration ball that may have involved Chachi (now would be a good time for Fonzie/Winkler to come astride the motorcycle and call off the dogs of the opposition). She’s my weak spot with regard to this administration. Spicer does come off like the late J.T. Walsh and some of John Heard’s a-hole roles.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 1/24/2017 @ 12:06 pmOnce the Administration begins tackling substantive issues, everyone except for the chattering commentariat classes will have totally forgotten about The Great Debate in 2017 about Inauguration Crowd Size.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 1/24/2017 @ 12:08 pmI’m certain of it.
@38- Ingraham is too combative by nature for that gig. And she has too much history. You need someone who presents the message of the day and not primed for an argument. But Trump’s right about the visual. He knows how the media operates. Dark suits. Tailored. That’s the uniform of the day. Image over substance rules. It’s Reagan 101. Look how far it took Megyn Kelly.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2017 @ 12:14 pmIt is sort of peculiar CNN and MSNBC keep referencing a 2009 image of Obama’s inauguration beside the 2017 image of Trump’s. After all, the 2013 image of Obama 2nd inaugural would seem more appropriate.
The inauguration of the first black president was historic and naturally would draw more people.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2017 @ 12:20 pmmedia dogs drool or bare their teeth depending on….well, you know.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/media/315826-in-2009-media-drooled-over-obama-to-trump-they-bare-their-teeth
elissa (4dbee6) — 1/24/2017 @ 12:20 pm@45-Have you noticed the use of the term ‘lie’ has become more prevalent in reporting of late? The media sought to avoid using that term directly in reporting on previous administrations.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2017 @ 12:27 pmcnn isn’t relevant because it’s fake news not real news
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2017 @ 12:32 pmAri Fleischer not happy either
http://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2017/01/24/ari-fleischer-rips-nightline-for-editing-his-quote-on-sean-spicer/
elissa (4dbee6) — 1/24/2017 @ 12:33 pmthe ball was fumbled but then it was nicely recovered
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2017 @ 12:44 pmVoting for honest wasn’t an option this election season.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 1/24/2017 @ 1:00 pmWhat is fleischer, doing on nightlife.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 1:13 pmslumming it
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2017 @ 1:22 pmJet Walsh, no he’s much too Earnest for that,
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 1:25 pmI’ve not said a word about it or even watched it.
Yesterday I worked during the day and in the evening I saw Norm MacDonald live.
Patterico (6879ca) — 1/24/2017 @ 1:36 pmyou can’t just let life pass you by like that
not when there’s so much exhilarating trumpy goodness to enjoy
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2017 @ 1:40 pmThe same media who sent an army of reporters to research exactly which movies Todd Palin had rented from Blockbuster Video in Wasilla yet couldn’t locate anyone who attended poli sci classes with Barack Obama at Columbia University, is now going to the mat arguing about the size of a crowd! … not the size of the national debt, nor the size of ISIS’ expanse in Syria and Iraq, but the size of a crowd in Washington DC during the middle of winter.
O.M.G. (LOL)
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 1/24/2017 @ 1:41 pmThey also were from the journolist, unclear about the birds and the bees, in her circumstance, lol.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 1:45 pmSound familiar anyone?
Media gives 12x more coverage to Spicer flap than executive order on Obamacare.
http://m.townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2017/01/24/the-media-seems-to-be-more-focused-on-wh-press-secretary-than-trumps-executive-order-on-obamacare-n2276292
Harkin (fabf46) — 1/24/2017 @ 2:00 pmtrump is so good
he is so good
poor douchebag john kasich
he wants to talk about doing that yummy wet obamacare all up in ohio
but errybody talkin bout spicer spicer
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2017 @ 2:06 pmThe new York post as I said had the breakdown of the major bullet points I’m confident the dog trainer couldn’t buy a clue.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 2:29 pmand now the secret service pigs, they say they don’t care if President Trump lives or dies
America used to be a better place than this
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2017 @ 2:39 pmThat is the hold my beer level of stupid. On Mrs Casey’s part.
The press has some level of agita.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 2:44 pmRe selecting britbart and lifezette over fake news outlets bozos and car
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 2:49 pmIs slims.
Karmic fallout from the Chicago beating video (pardon the source):
http://ambrosiaforheads.com/2017/01/worldstar-hiphop-q-obituary/
Without WorldStar blazing the trail, perhaps there would be less of these beatdown glorification videos.
urbanleftbehind (4011d0) — 1/24/2017 @ 2:49 pmif this is what the trashy secret service pigs say when they’re sober
imagine what they say when they’re on duty
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2017 @ 2:56 pmit sounds like some of the secret service agents are colombian hookers
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 1/24/2017 @ 3:17 pmi’d take a bullet for Mr. President Trump just not in the face
or a few other places also
but like maybe on the outside of my shoulder or on the side of my leg but just one bullet
are we clear
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2017 @ 3:19 pmThat sounds like Billy Crystal-cum-Fernando Lamas when confronted by shooter “shoot me here or here but not my face so I could still look marvelous”.
urbanleftbehind (4011d0) — 1/24/2017 @ 3:24 pmAnd then you have the laugh o Olympics that is the dnc reciting Proust’s competition.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 3:26 pmyes yes Mr. urban
this is the code of the hero
it’s a code our corrupt and inept secret service apparently does not deign to share
🙁
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/24/2017 @ 3:30 pmBow credavid brick seems to be running crew nowadays.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 3:34 pmamerica has taken lots of bullets on account of barack the skank
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 1/24/2017 @ 3:43 pmit’s time to fight back
no more safe spaces
Trump is brilliant at this. How do you send CNN down a rat hole, get Wolf in a lather and a great performance out of drama queen Chuck Todd as they send every MSNBC reporter to Dairy Queens in Indiana and Ohio to dointerviews??
You turn to Spicer and say, ‘Watch this…” Then go on camera and say, “I really believe millions of voters prefer vanilla ice cream over chocolate ice cream.”
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2017 @ 3:50 pmTo be honest, Mr. Trump the Donald, has done more that I approve of in the last three days than the last three Presidents have done in the last 24 years. Maybe it’s only because I don’t remember them doing much of anything that was good, but whose fault is that?
I am not happyfeet, I am nk, and I approve this message.
nk (dbc370) — 1/24/2017 @ 3:55 pmDCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2017 @ 12:27 pm
I think the New York Times and oher newspapers were getting a lot of letters saying: “Why aren’t you using the word lie” about what Donald Trump says?
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/public-editor/trump-birther-lie-liz-spayd-public-editor.html
There was also a Op Ed piece a few weeks ago in the Wall Street Journal about what kind of words they use:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-lies-and-honest-journalism-1483557700
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They’ve been getting criticized for months for not using the word “lie” often enough in connection with Trump. I kind of suspect this might be an organized campaign.
Sammy Finkelman (dec35d) — 1/24/2017 @ 4:15 pmNice opinion piece from Conrad Black:
“The two signal facts, or “alternative facts” in the well-chosen parlance of the brilliant and engaging co-counselor and victorious campaign manager of the president, Kellyanne Conway, are that public approval of the national news media now stands at 14%, and the allegations the press are now making against the new administration are of no interest to any serious segment of the public.”
Read it all:
http://www.nysun.com/national/bourbons-of-the-press-believed-by-but-15-straggle/89876/
Harkin (fabf46) — 1/24/2017 @ 4:39 pm@76. Trump and crew are channeling Nurse Diesel.
F’instance, he’s got Matthews literally frothing at the mouth over … nothing, completely diverting minute upon minute of television down a rat hole appearing totally obsessed with a frivolous shiny object. And looking idiotic doing it.
“I know you better than you know yourself.” -Nurse Diesel [Cloris Leachman] ‘High Anxiety’ 1977
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/24/2017 @ 4:48 pmFact Check. I vaguely recalled Ted Cruz getting fact checked for “tax code has more words than the Bible,” but couldn’t recall the specifics. So I Googled. FYI, WaPo did not give a rating (but they did say the comparison was meaningless), while PolitiFact rated it “True.” So, although I have disagreed with other of their ratings in the past (especially the number of Navy ships now being fewer than WW I), I think they got it right in this specific case. /nitpicking
TennLion (d05404) — 1/24/2017 @ 6:16 pmDraining the VA swamp. The times they are a changing at the VA and it’s long past due.
http://dailycaller.com/2017/01/24/days-into-trump-admin-corrupt-employees-are-already-being-fired-at-the-va/
It’s a well documented expose by the Daily Caller that one might expect the mainstream media to jump on now and flesh out further. Right?
elissa (92d294) — 1/24/2017 @ 6:32 pmhaven’t been here in a while, but i just read this over at red state. came in to say, “bravo”. it was the perfect opportunity to come out strong against the mlk accusation while scolding the media for their fixation on comparing obama vs trump crowd sizes. makes me wonder if anyone on trump’s team has the confidence to push back when needed.
razor419 (526f22) — 1/24/2017 @ 6:36 pmYou miss the point of exercise elissa, ‘shinseki was the kindest bravest man I know’ and even his compassion want enough but Robert Mcdonald’s, yafda yadda,
Meanwhile the foundation for the wall, along with the ban on travel from problem countries will be tomorrow
Bezos does acknowledge the j20 protesters but chooses to accept their explanation.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 7:47 pmNarciso, It’s been a productive day as the important business of vetting Trump’s nominees moves along. Sen Merkley of Oregon asked the nominated OMB chief what his opinions are on inauguration crowd size.
http://freebeacon.com/politics/merkley-asks-trump-budget-director-nominee-inaugural-size/
elissa (92d294) — 1/24/2017 @ 8:00 pmYes my cynicism funds a little acid, did mulvaney whose in enough hot water as it is, point out to muffin (I was thinking of the character in strangelove) that tents would suggest their timing is off.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/24/2017 @ 8:05 pmThanks for the fact-.check, TennLion. I updated the post.
Patterico (6879ca) — 1/24/2017 @ 9:05 pm
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2017 @ 9:36 pm[jpg]
I was going to link Governor Brown declares a state of emergency in 58 counties due to guess why?
You’ll never guess. I better tell. Because it’s rained so much, spread out over just the right amount of days, so that very few to none of our rivers were overwhelmed, but there’s so much water that Brown can’t maintain the fiction of drought conditions without copping to his own government’s malfeasance.
But the modis loci is potholes. We’re having a crisis of potholes.
I [edit] you not.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2017 @ 9:48 pmIt’s just that nk distracted me for a minute.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/24/2017 @ 9:49 pm“We’re having a crisis of potholes.”
LOL
ThOR (c9324e) — 1/24/2017 @ 10:36 pmSo is Colorado.
Yoda jr (310909) — 1/24/2017 @ 10:37 pmClowder of cats. [jpg], pack of dogs [jpg] , crisis of potholes [jpg].
Same idea.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/25/2017 @ 3:43 amI’m still not ready to buy a MAGA hat, papertiger. That “he’s only been President for three days” caveat is for optimists as well as pessimists. But credit where credit is due.
nk (dbc370) — 1/25/2017 @ 4:02 amSix days, with today, but YKWIM.
nk (dbc370) — 1/25/2017 @ 4:04 amnk
at a corner bar in Hell, Adolph, Pol Pot, Uncle Joe, Chairman Mao, and Saddam, are kicking back being served ice water.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/25/2017 @ 4:17 ampropaganda sluts at ABC News’s Nightline wholly undermine Sean Spicer’s underminings of years worth of work exposing the failmerica’s cheap tacky and worthless Anderson Cooper CNN propaganda slut media
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/25/2017 @ 5:41 amoopers exposing
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/25/2017 @ 5:42 amthefailmerica’sOops. I forgot the link.
Media Blackout Ordered For EPA Employees During Trump Transition.
That’s alright. Mostly that’s just the retweets of World Wildlife Fund, The Sierra Club, and Al Gore’s secretary, press releases. Mostly.
I’m guessing the answer is yes.
Liz continues
She’s probably not thinking of the emergency disasters the EPA has been causing lately. Pulling hard on the reins is probably saving our country from more Animus River incidents for the time being.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/25/2017 @ 5:49 amThat’s hilarious, Papertiger. They make these agencies overly politicized and then get mad when an election happens and they can’t just keep up the propaganda.
I hope the administration guts these agencies of the nonsense. ‘Getting out of the way of success’ is a more appealing mentality than protectionism, and it has the advantage of being very easy to do.
Dustin (ba94b2) — 1/25/2017 @ 5:59 amWe’re suffering under an emergency state of democratic leadership. [coff. coff. Both houses of assembly. coff]
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/25/2017 @ 6:05 amne thing, or even a dozen things, doesn’t undermine years’ worth of work exposing media bias. It could only be said to do if there was only one counter-source, nut in that case, you’re hostage too whoever is in charge of rebutting media bias.
It does do something to limit the Trump Administrations’s, or Spicer’s, ability to counter falsehoods (much of which will distort things not dear to Trump – but such things may not be defeded anyway)
Sammy Finkelman (dec35d) — 1/25/2017 @ 8:01 am76. From Conrad Bkack at the New York sun (online only newspaper)
http://www.nysun.com/national/bourbons-of-the-press-believed-by-but-15-straggle/89876/
“public approval of the national news media now stands at 14%”
I read that statement by Kellyanne Conway was not true – the figure of 14% applies only to the subset of people in the poll who said they were Republicans.
But it is pretty low anyway: (The Gallup poll asked it about “newspapers” Thosw with “a great deal” or “quote a lot” of confidence in tehm was at 20% in the middle of last year.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/1597/confidence-institutions.aspx
“and the allegations the press are now making against the new administration are of no interest to any serious segment of the public.”
Also said not to be true. When polled, a majority say the tax returns should be made available. Of course, that’s not the same thing as being interested in them. Trump claims possible conflixts of interest can be discovered by looking at his presidential caniddate filings with the FEC, which have to contain things not revealed in tax returns.
Sammy Finkelman (dec35d) — 1/25/2017 @ 8:15 amhappyfeet (28a91b) — 1/25/2017 @ 5:41 am
==We are fixing the piece online to include his full quote and context. We apologize and regret the error.==
It’s so sad ABC embarrassed themselves and their families needlessly by editing Ari’s very nice quote. They gotta get a clue and up their game. This isn’t the timid era of the Bush administration anymore where people too often failed to push back when they needed to. I’m sure that someone from day one of this administration started keeping a list and running total of media misfires and corrections/retractions/deletions–sorted by outlet. Media propaganda spewing is easier online these days, but online also makes it easier to catch them in the act so they are forced to “regret” the “error”. Moar please, until it becomes too unpleasant for media to make these obviously on-purpose “errors” in the first place.
elissa (339c0c) — 1/25/2017 @ 8:18 amABC Forced To Apologize.
“Nightline proves Spicer right about MSM’s dedication to negativity”
Ari Fleischer nailed them and they admitted they doctored the tape.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/abc-news-apologizes-after-editing-former-bush-spoxs-praise-of-sean-spicer-to-sound-like-attack/
harkin (afc7a6) — 1/25/2017 @ 8:27 am