From off-camera briefings to substitute stand-ins, recent signs indicate that embattled White House press secretary Sean Spicer is on the way out.
Various reports have the White House currently searching for a replacement for Spicer, who had been a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, and then for the Trump transition team, before being named to deliver the president's messages to the press corps.
Spicer has had a prickly relationship with the press from the start as he was forced to explain sometimes conflicting presidential tweets, attacks on the press as "fake news" and the president's fixations on inaugural crowds and ongoing investigations.
Spicer made no friends in the press pool when, as transition spokesman, he launched his own broadside at the media, saying, "These [Russian collusion allegation] attacks display a reckless disregard for the truth and serve as a perfect illustration for America of why trust in the media is at an all-time low."
Among those likely to be sad at the departure, if it materializes, are comedy writers. Spicer's stature was not aided by a wicked Saturday Night Live send-up by comedian Melissa McCarthy.
(Photo via Gage Skidmores Flickr. Image taken on June 20, 2017 and used per Creative Commons 2.0 license. The photo was cropped to fit 9x16 aspect ratio.)
