#Sean Spicer White House press secretary and Communications Director for President #Donald Trump is the public face of the White House. He presents the daily press briefings and therefore is seen regularly on television, the newspapers and all the major news sites. Unfortunately he is also the person that most feels the reactions to the Administration’s troubled start and over recent days his difficulties have been made even worse by leaks.
SNL and Washington Post
Sean Spicer’s week began on an unusual and embarrassing note. He had been lampooned in a highly acclaimed skit on last weekend’s edition of Saturday Night Live.
Melissa McCarthy’s impersonation of the Press Secretary was particularly powerful because it highlighted the rocky start to his position and with certain members of the Press.
To his credit Spicer took the skit in the correct manner, but initial reports from within the White House seem to indicate that the sketch had not been well received by President Trump. While these reports would be par for the course for such a delicate position, the latest newspaper report is potentially more devastating for Spicer.
Yesterday’s Washington Post had an article, based mainly on leaks from the White House, that Spicer’s role in the Administration may be at risk. In an opinion piece titled “Why you should pity Sean Spicer” journalist Chris Cillizza drew not only from leaks but also from other sources such as CNN to describe the Press Secretary’s current difficulties, beginning with President Trump’s apparent dissatisfaction with his performance with the Press.
Worse still, the reports state that there Oval Office may be looking for a replacement for Spicer and hinted that one has already been chosen.
Power of leaks
Undoubtedly these reports are causing Spicer much discomfort as he ponders who provided information and the motivations for them. It is not unusual for targeted leaks to the used by politicians prepare the groundwork for announcements and this article could have been once such case.
Undoubtedly this will make his daily briefings even more difficult for him for at least the immediate future.
Yet Sean Spicer’s story also shows that leaks can come in many forms and with many targets. Even more, leaks are a weapon that politicians and bureaucrats use in their constant struggles behind the closed doors of the White House and the offices of the Secretaries in Washington.
As we await Sean Spicer’s fate and the results of the investigations by the intelligence community into the greatest leak of all we can only wonder which will be the next big leak and who will be its victim.
