Steve Bannon says off-camera press briefings are result of Sean Spicer getting ‘fatter’: report
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Dan Gunderman
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, June 20, 2017, 10:44 AM
It seems Sean Spicer likes more than just chewing gum.
White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon gave a tongue-in-cheek answer to an inquiry from
Atlanticon why Press Secretary Sean Spicer now conducts his press briefings off-camera.
His answer: “Sean got fatter.”
Steve Bannon in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, June 1, 2017. Bannon reportedly attributed the changed press briefings to Sean Spicer's weight.
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The
Atlantic report reads: “Neither Spicer nor deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders responded to queries about the changes to the briefings. Asked why the briefings are now routinely held off-camera...Bannon said in a text message ‘Sean got fatter,’ and did not respond to a follow-up.”
Sean Spicer expected to step away from White House podium
In recent weeks, the White House has dialed back its press briefings — with those conducted frequently held outside the public eye.
Since assuming the role of press secretary in January, Spicer’s briefings have become something of a spectacle — with vague or outlandish answers to reporters’ questions.
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Donald Trump in the White House
It prompted “Saturday Night Live” to bring actress and comedian Melissa McCarthy on in a guest role as Spicer. The move instantly went viral — with McCarthy’s Spicer chewing wads of gum, berating reporters and speeding around on a motorized podium.
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Multiple gaffes from the podium sparked rumors that the Trump administration was seeking a replacement for Spicer, or that the press secretary would be flat out fired.
Spicer may disclose if there are Comey tapes later this week
In this June 2, 2017 photo, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt arrive for a press briefing at the White House.
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Early Tuesday,
the Associated Press reported that Spicer is seeking a more strategic role within the administration — one that would give him only a limited presence in the briefings. The same story indicates that Spicer has reportedly reached out to possible successors at the podium and as communications director.
On Monday, CNN correspondent
Jim Acosta called Spicer and his limited briefings “kind of useless.”
The administration is also searching for a replacement for former communications director Mike Dubke, who
stepped down last month.
White House Communications Director and spokesman Sean Spicer (L) stands with U.S. President Donald Trump at the conclusion of an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Feb. 23, 2017.
(JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS)
The Spicer antics began just days after the inauguration, when the press secretary touted the most well-attended inauguration in history. This came as photos showed a lower inauguration crowd than Barack Obama’s. The comment gave rise to adviser Kellyanne Conway’s infamous term, “alternative facts.”
The briefings reached rock bottom in April, when Spicer claimed that even in World War II, authoritarian leader Adolf Hitler did not use chemical weapons (as utilized in recent months by the embattled Syrian government). In fact, Hitler did — using chemicals in gas chambers to kill Jews and other minorities during the Holocaust.
As many called for his resignation, Spicer apologized for his remarks the following day.
