It looks like the White House press secretary and noted chewing gum–swallower has gotten on his boss’s bad side. According to CNN, Trump is “disappointed in Spicer’s performance during the first two weeks of the administration,” which has been characterized by Spicer making wild Pravda-like assertions about the crowd size at Trump’s inauguration and being impersonated by Melissa McCarthy, much to Trump’s chagrin. Spicer seemingly can do no right in the eyes of Trump, who reportedly has even criticized Spicer for the way he looks. Chief of Staff Reince Priebus “vouched for Spicer and against Trump’s instincts,” one unnamed source told CNN, and Trump “regrets it every day and blames Priebus.”
In response, Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post has written a post titled “Why you should pity Sean Spicer.” Cillizza writes, “Imagine if you started a job less than a month ago and you found out your boss said all of those things or, hell, any one of those things about you.” He adds, “Your boss is continually monitoring and judging your every word, facial expression, and wardrobe choice. Not exactly a fun situation, right?”
Cillizza is right, Spicer indeed has “the worst job in Washington.” But this is actually reason why we should cheer every dollop of scorn and mockery Trump dumps on his head. Spicer, after all, knew what he was getting into when he hitched his star to the Trump campaign in 2016, back when he was a flack at the Republican National Committee. Spicer himself likened defending Trump in the press to lawyers defending criminals in court. A former advocate for free trade and immigration-friendly positions, he dropped his alleged convictions when he saw the opportunity to leap to the front of the D.C. rat race, a microcosm of the shameless way in which Republicans have dropped any pretense of dignity to get their end of a devil’s bargain, i.e. tax cuts, deregulation, and Neil Gorsuch.
There is, however, a price. The price is Trump. And Spicer must pay it.