White House press secretary Sean Spicer rejected arguments on Wednesday that the widow of Chief Petty Officer Ryan Owens was a “prop” for President Trump during his address to a joint session of Congress, and said she was consulted and accepted an invitation to help honor the life of her husband.
“It was she who accepted the invitation. I think she has a right to honor the sacrifice and legacy of her husband,” Spicer told reporters when asked about the attendance of Carryn Owens. He said he has been in Washington for 25 years and has “never seen a sustained applause like that.”
Lawmakers applauded Owens for two minutes after Trump referenced her in his speech Tuesday evening.
Spicer also said critics are missing the point by arguing that her appearance was just a good photo opportunity for Trump.
“If that’s the criticism that people have, they have a right to it in this country,” he said. “But I would also suggest that we have a right to honor the sacrifice that [Owens] made.”
“You can say what you want about a number of policies, but I hope to God that everybody in America could literally say that’s the country we live in and that you honor and support not just Ryan’s sacrifice, but recognize what she’s going to go through, what her children are going to go through,” he added.
Ryan Owens died in a military operation in Yemen that Trump authorized. Some have criticized the operation as a failure, but the Trump administration has said it yielded valuable intelligence, and he defended the operation in his Tuesday address.
Spicer said Carryn Owens was invited to attend the speech on Jan. 30. “The president invited her and her three children to the White House and said ‘I’m going to be giving this speech in February, I’d love to have you as a guest,'” Spicer said.
She accepted both invitations and visited the White House Trump early Tuesday afternoon with her three children, hours before Trump delivered remarks at the Capitol, Spicer said.
