Over the last two weeks, Donald Trump has been forced to defend his baseless allegations that former President Barack Obama wiretapped his office during the 2016 presidential election. Despite providing no proof to back up the claim, the White House is sticking by their story.

Spicer on wiretapping

As the pressure mounted on Donald Trump to explain the growing scandal involving Russia and members of his administration, the president was forced to find a way to change the narrative. Trump did so by taking to Twitter two weeks ago and claiming that Barack Obama was spying on him at Trump Tower in New York City.

Within moments, the tweets dominated the new cycle, as the mainstream media wondered where the president got his information, while Trump supporters quickly backed up the claim and made it go viral across social media. Since then, the White House has failed to release any evidence, despite being given a deadline of last Monday to do so by the House Intelligence Committee. This issue was a focal point of debate during the March 16 press briefing at the White House.

As White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was pressed on the validity of the wiretapping allegations, the room became tense.

ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl asked Spicer about the wiretapping, which quickly set the press secretary off into an attack on the press. "Does the president still stand by his allegation that President Obama ordered wiretapping or surveillance of Trump Tower despite the fact that the Senate Intelligence Community says they see no indication that it happened?" Karl asked.

"He still stands by it but you are mischaracterizing what happened!"" Spicer said, while adding, "They acknowledge that they have no been in contact with the Department of Justice."

Double down

Not stopping there, Sean Spicer continued his push back at the media. "Where were you coming to the defense of the same intelligence committee and those members when they said there was no connection to Russia?" Spicer wondered, before claiming, "You (media) want to comment and you want to perpetuate a false narrative."

During the same press briefing, Sean Spicer attempted to clarify Donald Trump's tweet to mean that he wasn't specifically speaking about wiretapping when he use the term.

"He didn't mean specifically wiretapping," Spicer commented, pointing out, "he had it in quotes."

Next up

During a Wednesday interview with Fox News, Donald Trump said he would reveal further information about his wiretapping allegations over the next few weeks. Despite the continued backlash, it doesn't look like the president will be backing off his conspiracy anytime soon.
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