CNN and MSNBC on Friday aired a portion of what was intended to be an off-camera briefing with White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
Spicer held the briefing, which was not on the official White House schedule, in Palm Beach, Fla., where President Trump hosted a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
During its afternoon broadcast, anchored by Wolf Blitzer, CNN cut to the briefing, and Spicer was seen at the front of a room addressing reporters present. Spicer could be heard in a back and forth with someone off camera.
After about 15 seconds, Spicer was heard answering someone who apparently asked if the briefing was on camera.
“Everything’s off,” Spicer said.
The camera carrying CNN’s live feed then pivoted off Spicer but he could still be heard saying he was going to take questions and also provide a “tick tock” of Trump’s decision to launch a limited missile strike on Syria the night before.
CNN then cut back to Blitzer, who said it was “a little awkward” that they had to pull away from the briefing.
“Apparently [Spicer] does not want this briefing to be on camera,” he said. “As a result they’ve told the pool cameras at that briefing to get off of him. We’re hearing his audio but I take it this has now been designed as an off camera briefing.”
CNN White House reporter Jeff Zeleny told Blitzer that his network had asked if Spicer would make himself available for on-camera questioning but that he declined.
A similar scene played out on MSNBC.
A media source familiar with the situation said reporters in the pool were initially told that the briefing was intended to be on camera but that Spicer changed course as MSNBC and CNN were taking it live.
A spokesperson for the White House told the Examiner that the briefing was intended to be off camera.
