Calling into CNN’s Inside Politics after news broke Friday afternoon Sean Spicer would resign from the position of White House press secretary, senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta trumpeted the reality that Spicer “was raked over the coals publicly” on Saturday Night Live and in the media (especially by people like Acosta).
“I talked to a source close to the White House just a few moments ago about all of this, and it sounds like there is a lot of turmoil going on behind the scenes in this press shop, in this communications shop,” Acosta began before noting how the President reportedly wanted Spicer to do the job of communications director while Anthony Scaramucci had the title.
Looking at Spicer’s tenure, Acosta flaunted “these battles” he and his colleagues have waged against Spicer and thus “the President just did not have confidence in Sean Spicer in that sort of TV job as the press secretary, which you know, John, from so many years covering all of this, the White House press secretary is a TV job.”
“If you can't do this job on television, you are not going to stay in the good graces of this President, and all we have to do is mention two words — Melissa McCarthy. I mean, Sean Spicer was — was raked over the coals publicly. Culturally, as the press secretary, and he was just not living up to Donald Trump TV standards,” Acosta added.
Ah yes, “raked over the coals.” For anyone who has watched CNN or White House press briefings, Acosta and company have taken delight in going after Spicer and that doesn’t even include the ridicule he received from Melissa McCarthy lampooning him on SNL.
Without a doubt, those two groups must be hardest hit by Friday’s news.
Here’s the relevant transcript from CNN’s Inside Politics on July 21:
CNN’s Inside Politics
July 21, 2017
12:41 p.m. Eastern
JIM ACOSTA: I talked to a source close to the White House just a few moments ago about all of this, and it sounds like there is a lot of turmoil going on behind the scenes in this press shop, in this communications shop. I am told by a source close to the White House that Trump wanted Scaramucci on television essentially as a surrogate to the White House. He likes the way Scaramucci performs on television and wanted to give him a more formal title, but according to the source, John, there was simply no understanding by the President that the communications director title comes with lots of responsibilities, not just going on television, and get this — the President was expecting in all of this as he was topping — tapping Scaramucci for this job, expecting Sean Spicer to stay on as press secretary and essentially as the communications director while Scaramucci would play the ceremonial role essentially have the title but go on TV as a surrogate for the White House. I mean, it's very clear, John, that, you know, and we've been having these battles in the press briefing room for the last several months, that the President just did not have confidence in Sean Spicer in that sort of TV job as the press secretary, which you know, John, from so many years covering all of this, the White House press secretary is a TV job. If you can't do this job on television, you are not going to stay in the good graces of this President, and all we have to do is mention two words — Melissa McCarthy. I mean, Sean Spicer was — was raked over the coals publicly.
Culturally, as the press secretary, and he was just not living up to Donald Trump TV standards. This is a President who understands television, perhaps better than any President who's ever served in the Oval Office and the President simply wanted a better TV performer to sort of be front and center for this White House and it sounded like he had settled on Scaramucci for this job, but according to the source posted at the White House, Sean Spicer was not going to have that. And there was a feeling that the President did not understand that the job of communications director is more than just being a surrogate on television and as you and I know and so many others know here at CNN, sometimes the President judges how his communications is going for the White House based simply on what he sees on the shows. What he sees on the multiple cable news network, who’s speaking on behalf of his administration, how they're performing and so on but what he doesn’t understand, if go back to past administrations like Jennifer Palmieri in the Obama administration and so on, the job of communications director is someone who crafts the message for the White House, who makes sure that the White House is getting the President out there to do a health care event to push repeal of ObamaCare and so on, and according to the source, the President was just not understanding that — that — that there are so many other things that go on with the job of communications director. Sean was doing both of those jobs for so many weeks now and I think because of that dissatisfaction, Sean decided as others have been saying here on CNN, that it was time to go.
