After a week of awful press briefings, Sean Spicer cracked a joke on Friday that received a rousing chortle from the White House Press Corps.
Only it really shouldn’t have.
The Press Secretary was responding to questions about a jobs report released this morning indicating continued growth in the US economy.
President Trump hailed the news by retweeting The Drudge Report.
But during the election campaign last year Trump called the very same Department of Labor report one of the “biggest hoaxes in American modern politics”.
Spicer was asked about the sudden change of heart.
Spicer, complete with wide grin, said: “Yeah I spoke to the President prior to this and he said to quote him very clearly.”
“They may have been phoney in the past but it's very real now.”
- Sean Spicer quoting Donald trump
As Vox put it:
In the same week that Spicer and Trump thought the joke was appropriate:
None of them a laughing matter...