We knew this was coming for a while, right? Spicer seemed unhappy at the White House and he was working day in and day out at one of the most thankless posts in the world as the media face of the White House. Press secretaries are known for fairly short tenures, but for Spicer, leaving after just six months must be some kind of record.
The New York Times reports:
Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, resigned on Friday morning, telling President Trump he vehemently disagreed with the appointment of the New York financier Anthony Scaramucci as communications director.
Mr. Trump offered Mr. Scaramucci the job at 10 a.m. The president requested that Mr. Spicer stay on, but Mr. Spicer told Mr. Trump that he believed the appointment was a major mistake, according to a person with direct knowledge of the exchange.
So it wasn’t just the day-to-day of the job that pushed him out, it also appears that Spice was not pleased with the incoming communications director, and that was the last straw.
CNBC provides more details:
White House press secretary Sean Spicer has resigned after opposing President Donald Trump’s appointment of Anthony Scaramucci as communications director, NBC News has confirmed with two people familiar with the matter.
The president asked Spicer to stay in his role, but Spicer said appointing Scaramucci was a major mistake, the Times reported, citing a person with direct knowledge of the conversation.
Spicer’s departure comes six months into the Trump administration. His daily press briefings, often featuring tense exchanges with reporters, were frequently carried live on multiple networks.
Scaramucci is a former hedge fund star. He is well-known as the host of the annual SkyBridge Alternatives (SALT) Conference and is currently the U.S. Export-Import Bank’s senior vice president.
Earlier, a source close to the White House told NBC that Scaramucci met with Trump and it went well. In the meeting, Scaramucci was offered the role of communications director and accepted it, according to multiple reports.
When NBC asked its source whether Trump would change his mind, the person said the president’s mind is made up.
There were rumblings about Trump’s dislike of Spicer’s job performance almost since day 1, which was a tumultuous day. From there, things never seemed to really improve for Spicer. There would be anonymous stories about how Trump was disappointed with Spicer’s performance, but then public statements that the President stands behind him fully. This went on for weeks, but Spicer held on until now. I suspect Spicer’s exit has more to do with the assumption that he would be moved out at some point soon, and he figured the time to do it was now while he could still get in some summer vacation and save another month of anonymous quotes about his “poor performance.”
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the current Deputy Press Secretary, had been taking more and more briefings as of late, look for her to continue in this roll and perhaps work her way into the job full time.
