Sean Spicer Reponds To Jim Acosta Calling Him ‘Kind Of Useless’: ‘It’s Sad’

On Sunday, Fox and Friends spoke with Sean Spicer about CNN’s Jim Acosta, who has made no secret of his displeasure at how the White House has been shutting down press access as we know it. Acosta has spent the past week protest-tweeting about the administration choosing to hold gaggles that can’t be recorded via video or audio (although they relented on the former in a few instances), and his network even sent its courtroom sketch artist, which prompted jokes about crime scenes, to a briefing. Acosta even callied Spicer “kind of useless” because he frequently doesn’t answer questions. Spicer responded by calling Acosta’s statement “sad” and suggested that Acosta and other correspondents only want to roll the cameras so they can be stars:

“It’s sad that he believes if it doesn’t occur on TV — I think some of these reporters are more interested in their YouTube clips than they are in getting factual news … You look at the number of questions asked over and over again just so the reporter can get a clip of themselves saying something or yelling at someone.”

(It must be noted that Spicer has not yet addressed Steve Bannon’s fat-shaming explanation for the lack of on-camera briefings.)

Acosta had previously argued that the White House was trying to establish “a new normal,” which seems to be the case because televised briefings are customary, although Spicer insisted last week that the communications department interacts with reporters all day long, and briefings are only a small part of what Spicer’s team does. Of course, that’s also the most visible and most combative aspect of his job, and it’s been clear from Spicer’s very first briefing that he strongly dislikes that aspect of the gig.

It’s also no secret that Spicer is actively looking for the right candidate to expand the communications team, and above, he told Fox and Friends that on-camera briefings are too “repetitive” for his liking. However, CNN Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter warned on Sunday that viewers should realize that Spicer and Trump are only talking to Fox News lately, and the channel’s starting to play like a propaganda-filled “infomercial.” Watch Stelter below.

(Via CNN & Fox News)

×