Josh Earnest, formerly White House press secretary in President Barack Obama’s administration, said on Sunday that he does not “feel a ton of sympathy” for Sean Spicer, his counterpart in President Donald Trump’s White House.
“Sean’s not the victim of a bait and switch. It’s not like he met President Trump on his first day,” Earnest said in remarks at George Washington University, according to a report by CNN. “He knew what he was getting into.”
Earnest said that he doesn’t “feel a ton of sympathy” for Spicer as a result.
He also said that Spicer has a “very different set of responsibilities” to the ones Earnest had during his stint as top White House spokesman.
“He works for somebody who is famously thin-skinned and somebody who has demonstrated over and over again that he doesn’t care that much about telling the truth,” Earnest said. “And who, at least in some of his record, doesn’t appear to have much of an appreciation for how important independent journalism is in the success to our democracy.”
He noted that Spicer has to contend not only with his mercurial boss, but also with a deluge of internal leaks, many critical of him in particular.
“There have been number of times where Sean has been the center of some firestorm — where within 24 hours there are anonymous White House officials criticizing him,” Earnest said. “The job of being the White House press secretary is hard enough without having people that are supposed to be on your team criticizing you and undermining you in public.”
“I was very fortunate to be on a team of people that hung close together,” he added.
