After an interview with Fox Business on Tuesday night from the White House grounds, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer "disappeared into the shadows, huddling with his staff behind a tall hedge" to avoid an encounter with the press, The Washington Post reports.
"To get back to his office, Spicer would have to pass a swarm of reporters wanting to know why President Trump suddenly decided to fire the FBI director," James Comey, the Post writes. Spicer wasn't eager to answer that question; he had shouted out the news at about 5:40 p.m. from the press briefing room, then locked himself in his office to avoid doing so.
But Spicer couldn't stay hidden forever. Once outside, he tried "speed-walking up the White House drive to defend the president" with Kellyanne Conway and Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, but was pounced on by the press:
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After Spicer spent several minutes hidden in the bushes behind [the Fox News and CNN outdoor sets], Janet Montesi, an executive assistant in the press office, emerged and told reporters that Spicer would answer some questions, as long as he was not filmed doing so. Spicer then emerged."Just turn the lights off. Turn the lights off," he ordered. "We'll take care of this. ... Can you just turn that light off?"Spicer got his wish and was soon standing in near darkness between two tall hedges, with more than a dozen reporters closely gathered around him.[...] Exactly 10 minutes after he started answering questions, Spicer stopped. "Anyway," Spicer said abruptly, "thank you, guys." [The Washington Post]
Spicer gets a brief reprieve from his ongoing nightmare Wednesday — Huckabee Sanders will hold the press briefing while Spicer is at the Pentagon the rest of the week for Navy reserve duty. Whatever it takes.
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