NYT: Spicer Turned Off Press Briefing Cameras So Trump Would Stop Criticizing Him

Sean Spicer

New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush, speaking on the newspaper's podcast, "The Daily," says former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer turned off the cameras during press briefings because he was tired of Donald Trump criticizing him.

Via DeathAndTaxes:

“A lot of us assume, and I think the punditocracy assumed, this was an assault on broadcast journalism,” Thrush said in the podcast. “In fact, most of it was Spicer not wanting to be on camera so Donald Trump would not yell at him.”

Trump generally thought Spicer was not tough enough at his job, and that he made a bunch of missteps, including favorably comparing Hitler to Assad, which even Trump thought was too far, Thrush said.

The host of the podcast asked Thrush to clarify: “He didn’t want the president of the United States, his boss, to see him conducting the business of being press secretary?”

“Exactly,” Thrush responded. “The principled prime mover of that decision amounted to Sean Spicer not wanting his boss watching him work. That is a fact.”