The incident started when Shree Chauhan, 33, an American woman of Indian descent, approached Sean Spicer in the Washington Apple Store. Chauhan walked up to Donald Trump’s press secretary while he was shopping to ask him what it feels like to work for a fascist.
As reported by American Bazaar Online, Spicer’s response was not satisfactory. Spicer turned to the woman and reportedly said the U.S. is “such a great country” in that it allows her to be there. Chauhan was capturing the encounter on video and, feeling the response to be of a racist nature, posted the Periscope video on Twitter Saturday.
The video was captioned to say that, as the press secretary doesn’t like the press, she decided to interview him herself and at the time of writing the post has attracted some 488,000 views.
Chauhan attacked online for her words
Critics have branded Chauhan “vile” and have accused her of harassment for her treatment of Spicer in the Apple store. In the video, Spicer can be heard initially responding to Chauhan, saying the U.S. is a great country. Chauhan, who reportedly is the founder of an education start-up, then asks Spicer if he is involved in the “Russia stuff,” and goes on to ask if he is a criminal and committed treason like the President has. It was at this point that the press secretary repeated how great the country was, in that allows someone like Chauhan to be living there.
Chauhan unsuccessfully persists with her questioning on the Russian theme and Spicer walks away from her, thanking her, at which stage she asks him the again if he knows he works for a fascist.
Asking @PressSec questions in Apple Store since he doesn't like the press. https://t.co/l493z2gG4x
— Shree ✊🏾❤️🇺🇸 (@shreec) March 11, 2017
Born in the U.S.A. to immigrant parents
As reported by the BBC, Chauhan later wrote in a blog post that she is an American citizen, born and raised, and said she was “stunned” by Spicer’s comment, that he was profiling her, it was racism and “an implied threat.” She mentioned the “sheer audacity” of Spicer saying that to her face with a smile, all the while knowing he was being recorded.
She did acknowledge that she was “impolite” in her comments to Spicer. However, she said, on spotting the press secretary in the store, she had to seize the opportunity to try and get some answers from him, without the protections Spicer is normally surrounded with.
I have clear feelings for the man who is a fascist's spokesperson.
— Shree ✊🏾❤️🇺🇸 (@shreec) March 12, 2017
Nazis weren't stopped with niceties.#LyingSpice is complicit. https://t.co/lU9BEksdtp
As for those who criticized her, she responded on Twitter to stress she had clear feelings for Spicer, who she said is a “fascist’s spokesperson" and that he is complicit, adding the Nazis could not have been stopped with niceties.