White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer scolded a White House pool reporter for incorrectly indicating that the Martin Luther King bust was removed from the Oval Office after President Trump moved in.
Time’s Zeke Miller initially reported Friday evening that the MLK bust was no longer on display after a bust of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was returned to the White House Oval Office. The Churchill bust had been removed by President Obama in 2009.
Soon after Miller tweeted out an apology for sharing the misinformation, saying that a White House aide confirmed the bust was still in place. “It was obscured by an agent and door,” Miller tweeted, and also said he checked twice to see if it in fact had been removed.
Spicer accepted the apology, via Twitter, and also shared a lesson with members of the press:
“A reminder of the media danger of tweet first check facts later,” Spicer said.
A reminder of the media danger of tweet first check facts later https://t.co/dYqwRv1p0f
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) January 21, 2017
He also shared a picture of the MLK bust still in the Oval Office.
Thanks to White House Chief of Staff for this wonderful picture of the MLK bust in the oval pic.twitter.com/Lzgj6RljvI
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) January 21, 2017
