Culture

Sean Spicer: Trump’s Tweets Are ‘Considered Official Statements By The President Of The United States’

Should President Trump’s tweets be considered official White House statements? It’s a question that comes up almost daily, particularly when Trump is accusing a former president of illegal behavior. The riddle also arises when Trump tweets gibberish (that Sean Spicer cannot adequately explain) or after he attacks London’s mayor following terrorism. On Tuesday, a reporter — One America News’ Trey Yingst — finally asked this question during a Spicer press briefing. Yingst received this deer-in-the-headlights answer:

“Well, the president is the president of the United States, so …. they’re considered official statements by the president of the United States.”

This may arrive as news to Trump Counselor Kellyanne Conway, who recently berated the press for their “obsession” in covering Trump’s tweets. Her rebuke presented a few wrinkles. First, Conway’s husband, George, later trolled the “travel ban” tweets from Trump. And secondly, Conway insisted that it’s “not true” that Trump feels that Twitter is the best method of communicating with the American people. In the below clip, Spicer told the press that Trump does, in fact, use Twitter as an effective way of talking to the masses:

“The president is the most effective messenger on his agenda and I think his use of social media — he now has a collective total of close to 110 million people across different platforms — give him an opportunity to speak directly to the American people which has proved to be a very effective tool.”

This probably caused some cartoon-steam to spill from Conway’s ears. Of course, there is also an unsanctioned Twitter robot that translates Trump’s tweets into “statements” that look like White House letterhead. Kinda spooky.

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