White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer blasted the press, as usual, Monday morning. "We go up there every day armed with a set of facts we have, and sometimes it becomes a game of gotcha, which is someone comes in and says, ‘Well, I know this instead,' and that's–if that's the game, it's who can stump the chump, then that's not really an exercise in trying to get to the bottom of a situation," he said on CBS This Morning.
These remarks were in response to anchor Gayle King, who said: "Sometimes what you're saying there at the podium doesn't appear to drive with the facts of what's been presented with whatever the issue is. And I'm wondering how you deal with that."
Spicer said despite being armed with accurate information, the press will attempt to "sneak a fast one," undermining an "honest attempt to really understand the news."
"I'm always amazed sometimes at a member of the press corps that has sat on an issue for five or six hours only because they want to play a gotcha, you know, plant a gotcha question," the press secretary added. "If they're truly interested in getting to the bottom of the situation, they'll be able to report out a story. I applaud that."
Spicer concluded, "But the questions sometimes you have to ask is what is the motive behind the tone and the questions they're asking."
Here is the May 1st exchange:
CBS This Morning
May 2, 2017
GAYLE KING: But sometimes what you're saying there at the podium doesn't appear to drive with the facts of what's been presented with whatever the issue is and I'm wondering how you deal with that.
SEAN SPICER: Well, again, we go up there every day armed with a set of facts we have and sometimes it becomes a game of gotcha, which is someone comes in and says well I know this instead and that, that's if that's the game it's who can ‘stump the chump,’ then that's not really in a an exercise and trying to get to the bottom of this situation. If it's trying to figure out who can, you know, get the other person, that's one thing. If it's an attempt to really understand an issue, we get up there every day we do a lot of prep to try to make sure that we've got all the facts and the figures. But if someone's trying to figure out how they can have they can sneak a fast one on us and say, ‘Did you know that Line 78 of that bill had this provision?,’ well, then that's not an honest attempt to really understand the news. We're around all day long. The press briefings usually happen at 1 o'clock. And I'm always amazed sometimes that a member of the press corps that has sat on an issue for five or six hours only because they want to play a gotcha quite, you know, plan a gotcha question. If they're truly interested in getting to the bottom of the situation, we'll be able to report out a story I applaud that. But the question sometimes you have to ask is what's the motive behind the tone and the questions they’re asking.
