Spicer Roasts Media: Most Reporters ‘Don’t Do Their Job,’ Can’t Escape Bias

Outgoing White House press secretary Sean Spicer blasted mainstream media reporters for allowing themselves to become “trapped” in the biased “Washington, D.C., media bubble” rather than do their jobs, during an interview Friday on Fox News’ “Hannity.”

Spicer reportedly took President Donald Trump by surprise when he announced his resignation Friday afternoon immediately following Trump’s appointment of Anthony Scaramucci to serve as the White House communications director. Citing his wishes for Scaramucci and newly appointed press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to have a “clean slate to start from so that they can talk about the President’s agenda and help move it forward,” Spicer told host Sean Hannity that he felt he needed to resign.

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Spicer is expected to stay on through the end of August. He fired some parting shots at the left-leaning mainstream media reporters with whom he dealt on a daily basis during his six months in the Trump White House.

“I was increasingly disappointed in how so many members here of the media do their job, or rather, don’t do their job — the bias which they come from it at,” Spicer told Hannity. “And as I mentioned awhile ago, I think that there’s become a very clickbait mentality among a lot of reporters, where they’re more interested in their clip or their click than they are about the truth and the facts.”

Although Spicer said he wanted to avoid painting all White House reporters “with the same broad brush,” he said that the American people would be “shocked” and “disappointed” if they knew how journalists’ biases play into the stories they seek, craft, and relay to their viewers.

“I think most people aren’t really privy to how stories are developed and what stories are — make it to the front page, or to the mainstream media, whether it’s in print or in broadcast,” Spicer said. “And I think they’d be shocked and disappointed to see some of the bias that exists in some of the stories that don’t get told, or the manner in which they are told.”

“They’re not there for the facts and the pursuit of the truth,” Spicer said of the majority of mainstream media reporters. “Rather, they’re trying to figure out, how do I get on TV, how do I become a YouTube star. And that’s disappointing.”

When Hannity asked Spicer if he believed the American people were “being served by the media in this country,” Spicer answered “no,” although he noted there were some exceptions for reporters and outlets. The outgoing press secretary also said he prided himself on opening up the elitist briefings to include reporters from smaller and local outlets.

“There’s two things. One is that there is a bias. But then there’s also a Washington mentality,” Spicer said. “It’s really interesting, I’m very proud of the fact that we brought a lot of new voices into the briefing room, whether it’s through Skype or getting some talk radio show hosts here and allowing additional voices in.”

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“Because what’s important is allowing other people to understand that the questions that we, and stories that we’re hearing from around the country, from one coast to another, aren’t necessarily the stories and the issues that are being covered by folks here in Washington,” Spicer added.

“And we find that when the president goes on the road, when we talk about an issue and we do regional media days, the questions and the issues that are a concern to everyday Americans are not nearly what they are for the folks, the pack mentality that exist in the briefing room here at the White House, for those people to get trapped in the Washington, D.C., media bubble,” Spicer continued.

The president tweeted Friday night in support of Spicer, writing, “Sean Spicer is a wonderful person who took tremendous abuse from the Fake News Media — but his future is bright!”

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Trump also followed up on Spicer’s Friday-night criticism of mainstream media journalists outlets during the course of a tweet storm early Saturday morning. In particular, Trump expressed his outrage at the “fake news” media doggedly pursuing the Russia-collusion narrative and embracing the slew of intelligence leaks the Trump administration has undergone over the past six months.

“A new INTELLIGENCE LEAK from the Amazon Washington Post, this time against [Attorney General] Jeff Sessions. These illegal leaks, like [former FBI Director James] Comey’s, must stop!” Trump tweeted.

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Trump added, “The Failing New York Times foiled U.S. attempt to kill the single most wanted terrorist, Al-Baghdadi. Their sick agenda over National Security.”

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