Sean Spicer Resigns As White House Press Secretary

Sean Spicer

White House press secretary Sean Spicer has resigned from his position in the Trump administration over the hiring of New York financier Anthony Scaramucci as communications director.

From the New York Times:

Mr. Trump offered Mr. Scaramucci the job at 10 a.m. The president requested that Mr. Spicer stay on, but Mr. Spicer told Mr. Trump that he believed the appointment was a major mistake, according to person with direct knowledge of the exchange.

Mr. Trump made the appointment over the objection of Mr. Priebus, who thought Mr. Scaramucci lacked the requisite organizational or political experience. But the president believed Mr. Scaramucci, a ferocious defender of Mr. Trump’s on cable television, was best equipped to play the same role in-house, and he offered him a role with far-reaching powers independent of Mr. Priebus’s.

Mr. Spicer flatly rejected the president’s offer of a position subordinate to Mr. Scaramucci, according to two administration officials familiar with the exchange.

The appointment of Mr. Scaramucci, a favorite of Mr. Trump’s earliest campaign supporters, was backed by the president’s daughter Ivanka, his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the officials said.

Also from The Daily Beast:

Spicer was not the only one opposed to Scaramucci’s hiring. His deputy, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was as well. So, too, was chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon, who vocally opposed Trump’s decision, two senior Trump administration officials told The Daily Beast.

According to three senior officials with knowledge of the situation, they and other top aides worried that the Scaramucci hiring would perpetuate the notion of “amateur hour” in the West Wing. White House officials who opposed Scaramucci’s planned rise in Trump’s ranks have referred to the incoming new addition as a “joke” and as a Trump-world “hanger-on” who isn’t qualified for the job and is unprepared to handle the near-constant communications crisis dogging President Trump, senior White House aides noted.

June 23 was the last time Spicer handled an on-camera daily briefing.

CBS News' Major Garrett reports that Spicer's exit raises questions about the security of Priebus' job.

BREAKING: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer Resigns, NBC News confirms. https://t.co/pw3nMZ5idX

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 21, 2017

Spicer's resignation happened minutes after Trump hired Anthony Scaramucci as White House communications director https://t.co/dZ53GohqqA

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) July 21, 2017

White House officials who opposed Scaramucci’s rise have referred to the incoming new addition as a “joke” https://t.co/JepiQP5iYg

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) July 21, 2017

Preibus after Spicer resignation: It's "all good here" at the White House https://t.co/mNIh4khq42 pic.twitter.com/vFqCiIakIo

— The Hill (@thehill) July 21, 2017

Congratulations Sean Spicer. You've got more guts than Jeff Sessions!

— Maxine Waters (@MaxineWaters) July 21, 2017

Sean Spicer has resigned as White House Press Secretary, having lasted six months longer than predicted.

— Comedy Central (@ComedyCentral) July 21, 2017