BBC Anchor Ruins Sean Spicer in Fiery Interview: ‘You Have Corrupted Discourse for the Entire World’
Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was eviscerated in an interview with the BBC’s Emily Maitlis, who called out his embrace of “alternative facts” and faithful support of President Donald Trump‘s administration.
Maitlis pressed Spicer on the spread of lies about the size of 2017 inauguration crowds, which he claimed vastly outnumbered those of President Barack Obama‘s inauguration. Maitlis noted that Trump’s counselor, Kellyanne Conway, echoed Spicer’s description of the scene, “introducing a second version of the truth” which he was happy to accept.
“We all make mistakes,” Spicer responded, adding that there are things he would change. “There were days that were extremely lonely in that job because I screwed up.”
While Maitlis sympathized with that, she didn’t back down on her scathing condemnation of his behavior.
“It became a joke. It became something that defined you,” she said. “You joked about it when you presented the Emmy awards. But it wasn’t a joke. It was the start of the most corrosive culture. You played with the truth, you led us down a dangerous path. You have corrupted discourse for the entire world by going along with these lies.”
But Spicer immediately went on the defensive, accusing the media of reporting disinformation and calling Maitlis’ criticisms “absolutely ridiculous.”
“You act as though everything began and ended with that,” he said, referring to the crowd size scandal. “You’re taking no accountability for the many false narratives and false stories that the media had perpetrated.”
Still not letting Spicer off the hook for his short-lived tenure, Maitlis pointed out that he served as Trump’s agent while the president had been “spouting lies or half-truths or knocking down real truths.”
In response, Spicer explained he was simply fulfilling his political duties.
“At the end of the day, he is the president of the United States and it was his thoughts and his ideas and his feelings that it was my job to communicate them,” he said.
