Oh, Mr. Spicey. Our favorite press secretary because we love to hate him. His gymnastics around Donald Trump’s antics and gaffes (along with his own) are already the stuff of legend, and not in a good way. It makes his relationship with the press acrimonious, and he may well have just about had it with that. Today, he turned chickenshit, tucked his tail between his legs, and ran away from his own press briefing, leaving the White House Press Corps absolutely stunned.
Cries of, “Sean! Hey Sean! Seeeeeean! Ah come on, Sean! He walked away!” are among just a few of the loud and disappointed protests coming from a press corps that undoubtedly had a squillion uncomfortable questions for him.
Watch below:
.@PressSec literally fled press questions today pic.twitter.com/S9uIapiBn4
— American Bridge (@American_Bridge) May 2, 2017
Near the end of the video, you can hear someone say, “Really?” Yes, really, apparently. And people on Twitter are going at Spicey for being a coward with gleeful abandon:
@American_Bridge @PressSec Live feed on sean spicer running out the WH.. pic.twitter.com/wt4J2Q45WE
— diane1261 (@diane1261) May 2, 2017
@American_Bridge @PressSec pic.twitter.com/pqz03w8WhL
— Jas (@barteej) May 2, 2017
@American_Bridge @glasgowdick @PressSec @PressSec “Quick, the press are here. Run! Hide!” pic.twitter.com/y2Jib6YrZB
— Sean Callaghan (@keanespirit) May 2, 2017
@American_Bridge @PressSec Moments before: pic.twitter.com/U2XzJwewlF
— Judge Steve Reinhold (@Galileo908) May 2, 2017
@American_Bridge @wycam1 @PressSec Maybe Spicey had to GO POTTY pic.twitter.com/KeSHWDnYsM
— NY Justice Seeker (@NYJusticeSeeker) May 2, 2017
Just in, footage of Sean Spicer at today’s presser… pic.twitter.com/BNVX2m9CmA
— Tynisa Walker (@Kalarigamerchic) May 2, 2017
@American_Bridge @PressSec pic.twitter.com/lClJnDpGBt
— L M J (@ViewFrom14thFlr) May 2, 2017
@American_Bridge @PressSec Damn Sean. At least do it with a little style. pic.twitter.com/YTB8hEt05Z
— Bob Parker (@BobusParkorum) May 2, 2017
@American_Bridge @Marengel4 @PressSec I wouldn’t put it pass you @seanspicer smh… pic.twitter.com/6K8jCnqKgl
— ✌RG☺ (@lastbreath8) May 2, 2017
@American_Bridge @PressSec pic.twitter.com/6DMtkNi0W9
— Allbizness (@TerniValentine) May 2, 2017
@American_Bridge @PressSec A coward dies a thousand deaths… pic.twitter.com/X0hCvrpzkn
— Erin Larkin Foster (@larkster_Erin) May 2, 2017
Live look at Sean Spicer ghosting the WH press pic.twitter.com/W9vmc2Ef4g
— Andi Zeisler (@andizeisler) May 2, 2017
@JakeTurx The childish nature of this Administration never ceases to amaze me. I honestly wish they would stop. pic.twitter.com/Z7uCwa8aaJ
— ACTIndivisible (@ACTIndivisible) May 2, 2017
Scaredy Spice @PressSec is too much of a coward to face the free press reps in White House press briefing! @maddow
#Spicer #100DaysOfShame pic.twitter.com/xNTmw4xYeQ— Daniel Quinn (@MightyQuinnUSA) May 2, 2017
Actual pics of Sean Spicer fleeing the press briefing today pic.twitter.com/NnogAnWC5w
— Prubjot Kaur (@prubjotkaur) May 2, 2017
Sean Spicer fleeing the WH press corps like pic.twitter.com/S1jns97dfN
— Jenn Lerner (@JenniferLerner1) May 2, 2017
Poor @seanspicer he’s such a huge pussy that @realDonaldTrump is going to be grabbing him all day long. https://t.co/pJ9Ej1TMw1
— Pretty Hat Machine (@PrettyHatMech) May 2, 2017
What’s the rush? Sean Spicer leaves WH press briefing without fielding questions –https://t.co/U1rd4B6cZ2
— All American Girl (@AIIAmericanGirI) May 2, 2017
Sean Spicer leaving that press conference was not shocking to me. That looks me putting my kids to bed everynight pic.twitter.com/BHwAJhOYGw
— Lulu Chatter (@LuluChatter1) May 2, 2017
Sean Spicer leaves White House briefing without taking questions from the press…Where’s Spicer? pic.twitter.com/afi8EMgIqf
— Mangoman (@69mangoman) May 2, 2017
Actual footage of Sean Spicer at today’s press briefing. pic.twitter.com/2xHZdKhTkm
— ＪＯＮ ╳ ＧＯＮＺＯ (@slickvandal) May 2, 2017
Some of the media are unhappy with this development, too, and really not afraid to say so. Mother Jones called it “the soundtrack for a presidency.” The Hill said that Spicer “stunned reporters.”
Market Watch noted that the press was left “volleying questions toward an empty podium: Sean? Sean? Hey, Sean, come on! What about the Putin call, Sean?” The caption under their photo reads, “It just…like…concluded.”
The Root had its own take:
“Perhaps Spicer needed some time to compose the “alternative facts” he knew he’d have to present after Salmon-Skin Stalin said Tuesday that the new budget has enough money for a down payment on the wall, and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the Senate Appropriations Committee’s ranking Democratic member, responded on Twitter with, ‘To be clear, there is NO funding in this bill for ANY kind of down payment on construction of a new border wall.’
Or, maybe Spicer was nervous about responding to Trump’s tweets from earlier Tuesday insisting that the government needed a ‘good shutdown.’”
While some blindly loyal Trump supporters are saying that he just owned the press, unfortunately for their narrative and for Spicey here, answering questions he doesn’t necessarily like or want to answer is part and parcel of his job. He doesn’t get to run away when he doesn’t want to talk, or without explaining that his time is getting cut short for something else. Really, Spicer just got owned here.
Featured image via screen capture from embedded video
