Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer tells the New York Times that he “absolutely” regrets berating members of the media who accurately reported that President Donald Trump’s inauguration crowd size was smaller than the inauguration crowd size for former President Barack Obama.
“In an interview on Monday morning, Mr. Spicer said he now regrets one of his most infamous moments as press secretary: His decision to charge into the White House briefing room in January and criticize accurate news reports that Barack Obama’s inauguration crowd was bigger than President Donald J. Trump’s,” reports the Times’ Glenn Thrush.
Spicer on Sunday night appeared at the 69th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, in which he mocked his infamous post-inauguration press conference by insisting that the audience for this year’s Emmys would be the largest ever.
Thrush asked Spicer if he feared Trump would be upset by his decision to make jokes on live television that lampooned his own past false statements.
“I certainly hope not,” Spicer told Thrush. “This was an attempt to poke a little fun at myself and add a little bit of levity to the event.”
Thrush also reports that Spicer kept his appearance at the Emmys a secret by donning a disguise while flying from Washington to Los Angeles on Saturday morning.