Sean Spicer has resigned as the White House press secretary.
And it seems like the bad blood between President Trump and Spicer was even worse than some had assumed.
After all, just moments after resigning, Spicer updated his Twitter bio. He scrubbed any reference as White House press secretary. Instead, Spicer now describes himself as…
Still, from Spicer’s perspective, this is a good move.
As the White House has struggled to come to terms with the fact that the Russia investigations are not going away, Spicer was under immense pressure. The president blamed him for media stories that portrayed Trump in a negative light. In addition, Trump attacked Spicer for his supposed failure to push back against “fake news.” On the flip side, the media correspondents of the White House press corps became increasingly frustrated with Spicer’s reluctance to address their concerns. This put Spicer in an unenviable catch-22 position.
Of course, the one thing keeping Spicer afloat was the fact that he held ultimate dominion over the White House press shop.
Until Friday morning, that is. Because on Friday, Spicer informed Trump that he could not work with Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House communications director. Clearly, Spicer felt that Scaramucci’s appointment would reduce him to a talking head. It was time to go.
Nevertheless, I think there are three other reasons why Spicer’s decision is the right one.
First off, he’ll no longer have to carry the load for Trump’s more absurd statements and behavior. It has been embarrassing for Spicer to stand at the podium and defend Trump’s tweets, or his freakouts on various individuals. Now Spicer is free. And he can realistically say that he did his best, and left on his own terms rather than being fired.
Second, Spicer is likely about to become a rich man. As the first major White House official to quit the Trump White House, Spicer will be in high demand on the speaking circuit, for TV network gigs, and by publishing houses. Expect the TV news networks to offer Spicer a lot of money to become a contributor. Then expect the major publishing houses to approach Spicer with multi-million dollar deals to write a quick “behind the scenes in the Trump White House” book. Spicer now has the world at his fingertips. More importantly, he’s now his own boss.
Third, Spicer won’t be tied to the Trump administration when the history books are written. Whether Spicer believes the Russia investigation will bury the administration or not, he will be able to say, “I served for a time, but only for a time.” Whatever the 45-year-old decides to do next, he has “White House Press Secretary” on his resume, but he won’t have “team-Trump” stamped on his head.
Ultimately, there’s a broader dimension to this resignation. For a White House struggling to get legislation passed, and to put scandals and controversies aside, Spicer’s decision comes at a bad time. It suggests the president is losing control and losing respect from his staff. Expect more resignations to follow (perhaps another big name like White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus), and more Trump rants on Twitter.
Trump needs a win. Soon.
