WASHINGTON, July 25 - RIA Novosti. Former US presidential press secretary Sean Spicer praised Donald Trump in his memoir, though he called him an eccentric politician. Spicer also reminisced about his worst moments as press secretary.
Briefing: Politics, the Press, and the President was released in the United States on Tuesday, marking the first anniversary of Spicer's resignation, which lasted about six months in office.
According to Spicer, Trump is a unique politician. "I don't think we'll ever see a candidate like Donald Trump again. Few can imitate his high-spirited activities. He's a real unicorn riding a unicorn galloping across a rainbow," writes Spicer. The unicorn in English is used as a symbol of uniqueness.
At the same time, Spicer admits that Trump can be his own enemy. "He is capable of defeating anyone, including himself," writes Spicer. “He is prudent and restless, charismatic but eccentric,” says Trump in another part of the book.
Spicer recalls the worst moments of his time in the White House. So, at the very first briefing on the evening of January 20, 2017, Spicer told the media that many more people came to Trump's inauguration than to the swearing in of his predecessor Barack Obama. Spicer's aggressive manner and active skirmish with the media immediately caused numerous parodies, and then almost every Spicer briefing was held in a confrontational manner.
“In hindsight, I think it was necessary to lower the heat and not so seriously challenge the motivation of the media questions. Fact checkers said that my pants were on fire (that is, Spicer was openly lying - ed.), fashion critics mocked my light gray striped suit and the way it hugged my neck. My first appearance in the press briefing room set an unfortunate precedent - a militant press opposed by an equally militant press secretary," admits Spicer.
The former press secretary once again repented of his most famous "blunder" when he in a tirade against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that even Adolf Hitler allegedly did not use chemical weapons against his own people. In fact, the Nazis used the gas to kill Jews and other concentration camp inmates, many of whom were German citizens. Spicer admits that experienced people advised him never to mention Hitler in public at all, but he forgot about this advice, for which he paid the price.
Spicer said that the reason for his resignation was the appointment of Anthony Scaramucci as the White House director of communications. Spicer was on bad terms with Scaramucci and did not want to work under him. Scaramucci himself held this position for only 10 days and lost his post after he unprintably cursed a number of high-ranking White House officials in a telephone conversation with a journalist.
Another reason for his resignation, Spicer calls the fact that the press discussed him, and not Trump's agenda, which he was supposed to convey to her. According to him, he told Trump: "Mr. President, the press secretary should tell the story of the president. But from the first day, I myself became a story that is being told."
"Right or wrong, the attitude towards me has already developed. It was not possible to start from the beginning," admits Spicer.
Spicer's book was recommended by conservative broadcasters Sean Hannity and Megyn Kelly. On the largest website Amazon, the book collected 23 reader reviews in the first day, 60% of which gave the book only one star out of five. Early reviewers complain that the book is short, with as many controversial facts as Spicer's briefings.
They have long wanted to replace him with a sexy TV presenter from a TV channel loyal to Trump
US White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has resigned. This was reported by The New York Times on Friday, citing its own sources. Spicer's dismissal has been talked about since the start of Donald Trump's presidential term.
Sean Spicer
According to the NYT, Spicer is resigning of his own accord. This happened to him, the newspaper writes, due to a conflict with the president. Spicer allegedly disagreed with Trump's decision to appoint financier Anthony Scaramucci as director of communications at the White House staff.
The dismissal was promptly confirmed by Trump himself. And along the way, he announced the appointment of Scarmucci, one of the representatives of the White House told Reuters.
Information on this appointment in the media appeared on Thursday, the appointment may be announced on Friday, wrote The Wall Street Journal. What could be so dissatisfied with Spicer in this case, the press was silent. Presumably, Scaramucci would have been able to influence him too much and deprive him of freedom of action. The fact is that the director of communications in the White House oversees the entire information and propaganda policy of the administration. Before, until May, this post was held by Michael Dubke, who resigned of his own free will, having not worked in the position for even four months.
Back in February, the American media relished details about the difficult life of the presidential press service. They, they say, were told who could and who could not be interviewed, even if it was the largest national television channel.
Speech at the Republican Convention, July 20, 2016On December 8, the famous American television and radio host Laura Ingram confirmed that she could become the press secretary of the White House under President Donald Trump, which excited the global information community. It is not surprising: Laura's personality is so bright that many can only guess to what extent she is able to change the very institution of the press secretary in America. One thing is clear for sure: the next "talking head of the White House", like most of its predecessors, it definitely will not.
53-year-old Laura Ingram is a prime example of a self-made woman, a type of personality that Americans by nature value very highly. While still a student, she managed to join the Republican Party and became the first female editor-in-chief of the independent conservative newspaper The Dartmouth Review. After college, her career only went up. Behind her shoulders - work as a journalist (Laura wrote for The Washington Post), a lawyer, an activist of the Republican Party, as well as a doctorate in law. We tell you what else you need to know about a possible future press secretary of the White House.
Laura Ingram - Popular Radio Show Host
Most brightly, Laura has established herself precisely as a political journalist and commentator. Her three-hour The Laura Ingraham Show is one of the most popular radio shows in the US. During the broadcasts, Laura brings up topics such as the global economy, migrant issues, US foreign policy, as well as details of national legislation. It is also important how Laura behaves behind the microphone. Her broadcasts are not at all like typical analytical programs: in between political comments, Laura likes to tell listeners about herself and her personal life, for example, about her children or about her Labrador Lucy.
Laura worked as a speechwriter in the Ronald Reagan administration.
If someone doubts that the post of press secretary Laura is beyond her strength, then we hasten to disappoint. As it turned out, she has plenty of experience in writing protocol texts. In the late 80s, young Laura already worked in the White House and wrote speeches to no one, but to President Ronald Reagan himself. Agree, not everyone manages to climb so far up the career ladder. She wasn't even thirty then.
Laura is a staunch conservative
The conservative views of Laura often became the object of close attention of the American public. So, in her youth, Laura strongly opposed the legalization of same-sex marriages, and in principle did not recognize same-sex relationships as such. Her colleagues at The Dartmouth Review said that her dislike of gay people was so strong that at times she was afraid to go into local cafes, fearing that one of the waiters might be gay. Ironically, her brother Curtis was an open homosexual, because of which Laura, having sacrificed family ties, quarreled with him and did not maintain contact with her brother for several years. Later, of course, under the influence of time, Laura softened her views, especially after she saw how her brother fought desperately and courageously with AIDS. However, even in 2016, in one of the world's most tolerant countries, Laura still frowns on same-sex marriage. Among other things, Miss Ingram is a staunch Catholic and often promotes the values of the Catholic Church on the air of her radio program.
Laura adopted two boys from Russia
Miss Ingram is not married and has no children of her own. But this does not prevent her from being a happy mother of three wonderful children. In 2008, Laura adopted a girl from Guatemala and named her Maria Carolina. In July 2009, she adopted a 13-month-old boy, Dmitry, and a year later, a 13-month-old Nikolai. Both boys were from Russia.
Laura herself admits in an interview that she loves Russia very much, speaks a little Russian and regularly discusses Russian culture with her children. Speaking about her sons, Laura laughs kindly: “They are real Russian boys - restless, like to fool around, very funny, constantly laughing. In general, wonderful children.
By the way, Miss Ingram was one of the most ardent opponents of the "Dima Yakovlev Law", adopted in 2012 in Russia and forbidding American citizens to adopt children from our country. Laura immediately took an ultimatum position, accusing the Russian government that the death of Dima Yakovlev was just an excuse to avenge the so-called "Magnitsky list", adopted by the States. Laura launched the Let's Adopt campaign, the main goal of which is to convince the world that the Dima Yakovlev Law deprives thousands of Russian children of a bright future.
Laura is the author of several books
In addition to journalism and social activities, Laura became famous as a writer. Her authorship includes five socio-political books, aimed mainly at criticizing liberal values and, accordingly, the policies of the US Democratic Party. In 2000, Ms. Ingram published her first book on - appreciate the irony - Hillary Clinton. The Hillary Trap: Looking for Power in All the Wrong Places is an accusation of Mrs. Clinton of promoting "false feminism" that sows confusion, impoverishment of social values and a decrease in the role of the family. Laura's literary legacy also includes attacks on the Obama presidency ("The Obama Diaries"), the liberal elites of Hollywood, Congress, and even the UN (the book "Shut Up and Sing").
The appointment of the deputy spokesman for the new position became known at a press conference on Friday. Previously, Sanders served as Chief Deputy.
Sarah was born in August 1982 in Arkansas. She studied at Ouachita Baptist University, where she was elected president of the student body and was an active participant in republican events. At age 10, Sarah was already helping her father run the campaign when he first ran for governor of Arkansas in 1992. She married Bryan Sanders on May 25, 2010. The wedding took place in a Lutheran church in the Virgin Islands. They have three children.
Sarah's father, Mike Sanders, is a conservative American politician, member, governor of Arkansas (1996-2007), chairman of the Southern Governors Association, chairman of the National Association of US Governors (2005-2007).
2008 U.S. presidential candidate (ranked third in his party's primary). Baptist minister, pastor, president of the Arkansas Baptist Union (1989-1991). He hosts a television program on the Fox News channel.
Sarah has commented on many topics related to Trump, especially those related to scandalous news stories. It is worth noting that in her statements, Sarah often shows dissatisfaction with the work of the media. So, two days ago, Sanders called information about the "secret" meeting of Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at the G20 summit "a continuation of anti-Russian hysteria."
“It was an official dinner, it was organized by Chancellor (of Germany Angela. - Gazeta.Ru) Merkel. Over 40 people were there. They had a short conversation during the official dinner, ”she said.
At the same time, Sanders stressed that calling this conversation between politicians a meeting is "absurd." A few days earlier, she also disapproved of the media attention to the meeting of US son Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer during the 2016 election campaign.
“Donald Jr had a very brief meeting with absolutely no follow-up,” she said.
Sanders added that "the only thing she finds inappropriate about the meeting is that information about the meeting was released after it was voluntarily disclosed." A little earlier, Sanders said that the Democrats' proposal to impeach the president is a "political game."
“I think this is completely ridiculous and is a political game in the worst possible way,” she said at the briefing.
However, Sanders herself gets from the American media. On July 2, Trump tweeted an edited video showing the head of the White House "beating up" a man with a logo for a head.
In a CNN response, Sanders was quoted as saying at a briefing on June 29 that "the President does not promote or encourage violence in any way." The video itself was attached to the CNN posting on Twitter. The channel also said that Sarah lied in her statement.
Before the news of her appointment, Sanders went out to reporters and announced that she had been appointed the new head of the White House Communications Department, as previously reported by sources from American publications. Traditionally, the head of the White House for communications is responsible for promoting the president's agenda, including through the media.
The previous White House Communications Director Michael Dubke resigned on May 30, 2017. Dubke, who served in the position for three months, submitted his resignation on May 18, but decided to stay in office for a while to help US President Donald Trump manage his first foreign trip.
At 28, she managed to go from an ordinary PR specialist and model to director of strategic communications in the US President's team, and in order to work with Donald Trump, she abandoned a serious relationship that lasted six years. Using the example of Hope Hicks, we tell what needs to be done to celebrate the 30th anniversary in the circle of the political elite.
Hope Hicks joined the campaign headquarters of Donald Trump as a personal press secretary, whose duties included not only communicating with the media, but also maintaining pages on social networks on his behalf (which is not so easy, given the billionaire's desire to share on Twitter every moment of his life), as well as accompanying his boss on thousands of work trips. However, a seat on a private plane next to the future president is not cheap: for this position, Hicks had to forget what her own family looks like for six months, and even part with a young man with whom she had a long and serious relationship. But it seems that for Hope the game was worth the candle: the boss appreciated the integrity and devotion of the girl and, having won the election, offered her the position of director of strategic communications in the White House. This year, Hope scored another small professional victory: the girl topped the list of the top 30 most successful young Americans in politics according to Forbes magazine (project 30 under 30). Beauty and youth, of course, are not the only trump card of the girl. As friends and colleagues of Hope say, working with such a controversial person as Donald Trump, the girl is helped by natural gentleness, ethics and boundless willpower.
At 28, Hope Hicks has secured the fame of the youngest woman working in the US presidential administration. They say that now she alone decides which of the journalists her boss will communicate with.
Performance and endurance
Hope grew up in the city of the rich and intellectuals - Greenwich (Connecticut), which, obviously, became a real source of strength for her. At the University, Hicks developed not only intellectually, but also physically: the girl played in the local lacrosse team. This game is considered quite tough and traumatic, but Hope has never been a timid ten. The former coach of the girl, Liz Holmes, once even told reporters from The Washington Post: “She is incredibly smart, and she also played smart. She was a true team player and a fighter at the same time." Hicks' determination was so strong that she was the only one on the women's team who never violated the ban on drinking alcohol.
Perhaps it was steel endurance and willpower that helped Miss Hicks build a brilliant career at the age of 24 in the well-known American PR company Hiltzik Strategies. By the way, thanks to this work, she met the Trump family, who almost immediately included her in the PR team of their business empire.
Upon entering the Trump campaign, Hope also performed miracles of efficiency. She accompanied the boss on all his trips around the country and processed 250 requests from journalists every day - and all alone (we will mention that in the Hillary Clinton team, the work that Hope alone did for Trump was performed by about 10 professional pr-men).
Hicks' colleagues argue that working for such an unpredictable boss as Trump will not ruin the girl's future career, because what matters here is not who she worked with, but how she performed her duties. So, the executive vice president of the Hollywood studio Relativity and longtime colleague of Hope, David Shane, told reporters: “Considering Hope for a position in my company, as a boss, I would be interested, first of all, not in how she created the image for Trump, but in how she worked under harsh conditions, and how respectfully she behaved in public. She knows her job well."
Between glamor and politics
Hope never talks about her political views, and she never had any experience in political PR. Of course, this did not frighten Donald Trump, because, after all, the absence of a political past is also his distinguishing feature. Hicks herself as a pr-specialist has always been inextricably linked with the entertainment industry, fashion and show business. After meeting and befriending the Trumps, Hicks began running PR campaigns for several resorts they owned and promoted Ivanka Trump's clothing line.
Hope says that the offer to become Trump's press secretary for the duration of the election campaign, she received almost in the form of an ultimatum. Trump was so confident in the girl's abilities that he did not even discuss the details of her future work with her. As Ivanka Trump told the press at the time, “to work with your father, you must first earn his trust, and she deserved it a long time ago.”
By the way, working in the fashion industry, Hope herself managed to try herself as a model. Thanks to her resemblance to the famous top model Hilary Rhoda, Hicks managed to collaborate with Ralph Lauren and, of course, she can boast of working with Ivanka Trump. Moreover, the girl also played an episodic role in the TV series Guiding Light and even starred for one of the covers of Cecile von Ziegesar's novel The It-Girl.
Trump's opposite
Hope herself, as a true "team player", does not like camera flashes and most often politely refuses personal interviews, devoting herself to creating a favorable information space around the boss. Hicks doesn't even have his own social media account, preferring to blog directly for his boss. Trump, of course, appreciates the loyalty of his subordinate and does not stop talking about it at numerous press conferences.
Oddly enough, Hope enjoys the full confidence of Trump and gets along well with him, largely due to the fact that she is not at all like him in character or behavior. Colleagues at work note her natural softness and delicacy, the ability to select expressions in communication with journalists, while her boss never stands on ceremony with the press. Journalists covering the course of the election campaign also noted her responsiveness. For example, she may well put aside her business to help some lost reporter get through the security post and get to a press conference with her boss. “She has a way with people,” admits former Hope boss Matthew Hiltzik. “She has a great work ethic, she knows how to learn and adapt, and her temperament helps her to take the blows.”
Photo: Getty Images, press archives
