Former White House Easter Bunny and current Press Secretary Sean Spicer may be out of a job soon.
Several reports this week have suggested that President Donald Trump is considering giving Spicer the boot, with an eye toward Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders (daughter of America’s worst comedian, former Gov. Mike Huckabee) as his replacement.
Spicer, who has been the public face of this administration since day one—when he went ballistic at the press corps because they accurately reported the the president’s inaugural crowd size—has spent much of this week away on Naval reserve duty, with Sanders filling in for him while he’s been gone.
According to Politico, Trump has used Spicer’s absence as an opportunity to gauge his staff’s temperature on both Sanders’ performance, and the possibility of changing Spicer’s West Wing portfolio.
It’s good timing, since the last time the world heard from him was Tuesday, when he skulked around some White House shrubbery trying to hide from reporters who wanted to know about Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey.
“[Tuesday] night was an example of gross incompetence,” one administration official told Politico.
Incompetence seems to be the key criticism of Spicer, as Axios’ Jonathan Swan reported that the president himself believed the press team had flubbed news of Comey’s firing.
Spicer, whose combative style and inability to say basic English words have made his press conferences feel more like professional wrestling than a press briefing—particularly when compared to Sanders’ effortlessly monotone regurgitation of White House talking points—has not publicly addressed rumors of his impending ouster. Sanders, however, brushed the reports off as “another ridiculous story.”
“Sean is doing a great job,” she insisted. “I enjoy working with him.”
Since telling baldfaced lies like that is the ultimate job of any Trump press secretary, Sanders seems like a shoo-in. So long, Sean.