Since the Washington Post reported on June 13 that President Donald Trump called House Republicans' health-care plan "mean," Sean Spicer and the White House communications team have resolutely refused to confirm that Trump said any such thing.
Then Trump undid Spicer's work in what appeared to be an impulsive moment Sunday on Fox & Friends. Check out this exchange with host Pete Hegseth:
Hegseth: Some people might say it's--the level of anger is unprecedented. But it's also unprecedented for a former president to come out the way President Obama has. He came out on Facebook recently--you may have seen it--he said your bill, Mr. President, it's "not a health-care bill. It's a massive transfer of wealth" that's going to harm Americans. It's mean. What do you say to the former president . . . .
Trump: Well, he actually used my term, "mean." That was my term because I want to see--I want to see, and I speak from the heart, that's what I want to see. I want to see a bill with heart.
Note that Hegseth didn't even ask Trump about the word "mean." Hegseth merely paraphrased Obama, who decried the "fundamental meanness" of the Republican health-care plan, and was setting up Trump to punch back at his predecessor when Trump interrupted and announced that he had said "mean" first.
It was as if Trump could not stand to let Obama receive credit for a label that Trump had initiated. His competitiveness--on even this tiniest of things--seemed to override the messaging discipline Spicer had imposed for 13 days.
This is why the roles of White House press secretary and White House communications director are so maddeningly difficult. Thoughtfully planned strategies can be--and often are--blown up in an instant by the freewheeling president.
It is worth noting in this case that all four briefings in which Spicer and others batted away questions about "mean" were held off camera. Thus there can be no video packages on TV or online that juxtapose Trump's admission with his spokespeople's deflections.
Cutting down on opportunities for the media to show the president and his aides out of sync could be one motivation for Spicer and his team to avoid the spotlight.
Editorial on 06/27/2017