Sean Spicer's celebrity is proof we are doing it wrong

(CNN)On Wednesday, ABC announced that former White House press secretary Sean Spicer will be a contestant in the next edition of its hugely popular "Dancing with the Stars" show.

"The nice thing is Sean will be in charge of assessing audience size," joked show host Tom Bergeron, a reference to Spicer's false claim that more people had seen President Donald Trump's inauguration than any other in history. (Bergeron later tweeted that he had hoped not to have any political people on "DWTS.")

In each episode of his weekly YouTube show, Chris Cillizza will delve a little deeper into the surreal world of politics. Click to subscribe!

This whole saga basically proves the old adage that "humor = tragedy + time." It also proves that Spicer won -- and the rest of us lost.

See, before Trump was elected president, Spicer was a medium-level operative. He worked during the 2016 campaign as communications director at the Republican National Committee , the latest in a series of press jobs Spicer held on Capitol Hill over the previous decade. He was generally regarded by the Republican political class as a nice guy, someone who followed directions and could reliably execute the GOP's attacks on Democrats.

No one saw Spicer as the sort of guy who might wind up as White House press secretary -- the top job for any political communicator in the country. But Trump's victory was so unexpected, and the incoming President had so few close political allies, that Spicer wound up with the job. It was a perfect storm.

Once in the job, Spicer quickly understood -- to his credit? -- that the way to keep the job was to do and say exactly what the President wanted.

famous incident The most famous incident came when Spicer told incredulous reporters -- two days before Trump's first workday in office! -- that the President had drawn the "largest audience ever to witness an inauguration" and added that "attempts to lessen the enthusiasm for the inauguration are shameful and wrong." That a slew of photos of the National Mall made very clear that Trump's inaugural crowd was not, in fact, the biggest ever didn't seem to bother Spicer. Trump said it was the biggest so it was. Period.

in a devastatingly accurate impression Spicer's unblinking defense of Trump's indefensible claims in the days to come -- remember "covfefe"? -- turned him into, well a thing. He became part of pop culture. Most notably, he was portrayed -- in a devastatingly accurate impression -- by comedian Melissa McCarthy on "Saturday Night Live."

And this is where American culture -- and its super-charging by Trump -- stepped in. Though Spicer had repeatedly and flagrantly not told the truth during his time as White House press secretary -- a job, by the way, funded by taxpayer dollars -- he had entered a different stratosphere. He was, in a word, famous. (And, yes, "famous" and "infamous" are now basically interchangeable in our culture.)

Source: CNN

Powered by NewsAPI.org

Keywords:

Sean Spicer • CNN • American Broadcasting Company • White House Press Secretary • Sean Spicer • Dancing with the Stars • Tom Bergeron • Inauguration of Donald Trump • History (U.S. TV channel) • Tom Bergeron • People (magazine) • Dancing with the Stars • YouTube • Chris Cillizza • Adage • Tragedy + Time • Sean Spicer • Donald Trump • President of the United States • Sean Spicer • Political campaign staff • United States presidential election, 2016 • White House Communications Director • Republican National Committee • Sean Spicer • United States Congress • Republican Party (United States) • Republican Party (United States) • Democratic Party (United States) • Sean Spicer • White House Press Secretary • Donald Trump • President of the United States • The Perfect Storm (film) • Sean Spicer • Donald Trump • National Mall • Popular culture • Comedian • Melissa McCarthy • Saturday Night Live • Donald Trump • Sean Spicer • Time (magazine) • White House Press Secretary • Stratosphere •