Sean Spicer says he regrets embarrassing himself and his family

Sean Spicer.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

It was the most embarrassing time of his life. Period.

During an interview with MSNBC's Craig Melvin on Monday, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer revealed that his brief tenure didn't go as planned. "I regret things that I did that brought embarrassment to myself, my family, friends of mine who have been very big supporters, where I said, 'Hey, that was a self-inflicted wound, I screwed up,'" he said. "And when you screw up, you sit there and go, You know what? It's not just on you, it's now going in and having to tell the president of the United States, 'Hey, I embarrassed myself, your administration, and in some cases did something the American people are not pleased with.'"

Luckily for Spicer, Melvin didn't ask him to rank his gaffes in order of embarrassment — Spicer's greatest hits include accusing the media of underestimating the size of the crowd at Trump's inauguration and claiming that Adolf Hitler did not use chemical weapons. Spicer left his job as communications director of the Republican National Committee in order to become Trump's first press secretary, and despite the gig only lasting six months and all the mortifying moments he crammed in, he's glad he did it. "Do I hope I grow as a person, as a friend, as a stranger to do better?" he said. "Absolutely."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.