‘He’s Using the Word the Media Is Using’
A very combative White House press secretary Tuesday afternoon held an antagonistic briefing Tuesday afternoon, berating journalists working to get truth out of the administration.Â
One reporter asked to revisit Trump’s “travel ban,” and was interrupted by the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, who insisted, “Well, first of all it’s not a travel ban,” Spicer said, misusing numbers of people entering the U.S. and the Obama administration’s vetting program as a shield for Trump’s ban.
Later, NBC News’Â Kristen Welker reminded Spicer that just yesterday President Trump posted a tweet calling the Muslim ban a “ban.”
“He says it’s a ban,” Welker told Spicer.
“He’s using the words the media is using,” Spicer deflected.
Of course, that’s not accurate – Trump is the one who for over a year has been calling it a ban.
“The president himself called it a ban,” Welker posited. “Are you confused or is he confused?”
“No, I’m not confused,” Spicer, agitated, responded.
Buzzfeed’s Dominic Holden points out Spicer himself just two days ago called it a “ban.”
Trump first called it a “shutdown” in December of 2015, announcing, “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.”
Here are several other times Trump has also called it a ban on Twitter:
For nearly the entire briefing Spicer was combative and antagonistic.
On Twitter, many mocked the press secretary:
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