Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told the Washington Post that he has “no desire” to repeat his work experience with President Donald Trump.
In an interview published Sunday to promote his new book “The Briefing,” Spicer made the comment in response to a suggestion that the book was merely “a lengthy job application” to resume employment with the administration.
“I would wholeheartedly disagree with that. I really was honored to do it, but there’s a lot of things that I’ve had the opportunity to do and I’m glad I did them, but I’ve moved on, and this was only one of them,” Spicer told the Post.
Spicer admitted that he didn’t initially plan on only staying for six months in the job and said that “from a personal and family standpoint, I no desire to do that again.”
Spicer was less than precise when asked if he would have supported the zero tolerance immigration policy that included separating children from their parents.
“For me, issues of life would have been very important. I hope that I get across that when you’re in my job, you privately make the case about what the most effective policy and message for that policy is, but ultimately it’s up to the principals. If you don’t feel comfortable with the positions, then at some point you should move on.” Spicer did not say if there was an particular issue that caused him to move on, only that the migrant children issue did not affect him during his time in the White House.
When the Post describes the job of press secretary as “a horrible job,” Spicer suggests instead, “There’s a level of intensity and scrutiny that I tried to convey in the book,” adding that when he offers advice to people seeking high-profile political jobs he notes “that things are different now for a variety of reasons about how this may affect our personal life.”
Spicer was criticized by the establishment media for describing President Trump’s inauguration audience as the largest in history, and the Post raised that one objection again. Spicer was still combative on the issue. While admitting the crowd may not have been the largest, Spicer asked, “…where has any evidence been that suggests that I’m wrong about the total population that watched it? This isn’t a partisan thing. The bottom line is that there are platforms available today that weren’t available for Obama.”