5 WTF Moments From Sean Spicer's Latest Press Conference

Trips, golf, and wiretapping.
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White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has once more stepped into the breach to defend Donald Trump’s embattled administration.

In a role most of us wouldn’t wish on our worst enemies, Spicer sought to defuse criticism of Trump’s expensive trips to Florida, his golfing habit, baseless wiretapping claims, and the ongoing investigation into Russian links.

These are five WTF moments from his latest briefing.

1). Describing $2m dollar ‘Winter White House’ trips as “part of being president”

Wow, Spicer is getting a lot of harsh questions about Trump going on vacation every weekend, at an estimated cost of at least $2m per trip.

— John Aravosis (@aravosis) March 20, 2017

Spicer won't say Trump will cut back on Mar-a-Lago trips to save money: "This is part of being president."

— Will Sommer (@willsommer) March 20, 2017

And while many former presidents did travel to their respective homes or on vacation, they didn’t do so as early or as often as Trump has.

2). Suggesting Trump’s prior criticism of Obama’s golfing habit was valid because the pair “use golf” differently

Despite dozens of tweets criticising Obama, Trump sees no hypocrisy in his golfing habits.

Spicer says Trump golfing different from Obama golfing because of "how you use the game of golf" to advance US interests

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) March 20, 2017

And then claiming that Trump’s golfing “serves US interests”

Because of tee-time diplomacy.

Spicer on why Trump's golfing habit is good and Obama's was bad is that Trump uses his games in ways that serve U.S. interests.

— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) March 20, 2017

Problem w/ that answer is—Trump has made 11 golf course trips in 8 wks as POTUS. Only once played w/ a world leader. https://t.co/fKU4nfFPTB

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 20, 2017

3). Announcing Trump won’t apologise for suggesting Obama ‘wiretapped’ him, despite the FBI confirming he didn’t

Wow.

In spite of the @FBI & @NSAGov confirming that Trump was not wiretapped by Obama, or anyone, Sean Spicer said Trump will NOT apologize

— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) March 20, 2017

4). Looking ‘visibly shaken ― frightened’.. ‘nervous, defensive, irritable’

Some commentators said Spicer appeared ‘shaken―even frightened’ during the briefing.

“This could well be the beginning of the end of this Administration,” one pundit tweeted.

SPICER looks visibly shaken--even frightened--at his presser right now. This could well be the beginning of the end of this Administration.

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 20, 2017

Spicer is anything but the picture of confidence right now. Nervous. Defensive. Irritable. Jumpy. Stuttering. WH not putting on a good show.

— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) March 20, 2017

5). Claiming former Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort played a “minimal role”.. then backtracking

In perhaps the biggest eyebrow-raising moment, Spicer sought to distance the White House from former Trump advisors who may now be subject to an FBI investigation into links with Russia.

In doing so, Spicer suggested the man who managed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign “had a very limited role” - despite at least two months in charge.

“Obviously there’s been discussion of Paul Manafort, who played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time,” Spicer said.

And he described Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor, as a “volunteer” on the Trump campaign.

Spicer calls Flynn a "volunteer" on Trump campaign and says Manafort played "minimal role"

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) March 20, 2017

Manafort managed the campaign between April and August last year, before resigning after links to a pro-Russian former Ukrainian President were exposed.

Spicer later clarified: “Just so we’re clear, I’m not dismissing Paul Manafort as a hanger-on.

“I believe Paul was brought on sometime in June and by the middle of August he was no longer with the campaign, meaning that for the entire final stretch of the general election, he was not involved.”

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