Sean Spicer

Sean Spicer has been a longstanding political aide for the Republican Party, best known for his tumultuous six-month tenure as the White House Press Secretary under President Donald J. Trump. Born in Manhasset, New York and raised in Rhode Island, Spicer was always interested in the inner workings of government. In 1989 he entered Connecticut College where he studied government, and would eventually go on to earn his Bachelor's degree in the subject. During his tenure at the college, Spicer additionally served as a college senator, thus giving him his first real taste of politics. After college Spicer began working on various campaigns for Republicans members of the House of Representatives, including congressmen Mark Foley and Clay Shaw, both of whom were from Florida. When George W. Bush was elected President of the United States in late 2000, Spicer moved to Washington, D.C. and began working as a communications director for the Republican Party. By 2011 he had risen up the ranks to become the Communications Director for the Republican National Committee (RNC). It was during his tenure at the RNC that the reality TV star and New York real estate magnate Donald J. Trump announced his candidacy for President in the summer of 2015. Spicer was initially critical of Trump's presidency, in particular the candidate's July 2015 criticism of war hero and Arizona Senator John McCain. Nonetheless, a year and a half year later, after Trump shocked the world by defeating Hillary Clinton for the Presidency, Spicer accepted the dual position of Communications Director and White House Press Secretary under President Trump. On his first day as Press Secretary Spicer made news all across the country when he falsely claimed that the crowd size at Trump's inauguration was "the largest audience to ever to witness an inauguration, period." Over the course of Spicer's six turbulent months in the position, he would become more widely recognized for comedian Melissa McCarthy's over-the-top impersonation of him on "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975- ) during the spring of 2017. After six rocky months as Communications Director and White House Press Secretary, Spicer resigned from the positions in July of 2017. In September of 2017, a mere two months after leaving his position in the White House, Spicer made national news once again for a surprise appearance on the Emmy Awards show, hosted by Stephen Colbert. During the appearance Spicer mocked his messy debut as White House Press Secretary by saying the crowd in attendance was the largest "to ever witness the Emmys, period." After a backlash attacking Spicer for attempting to capitalize on his role in the Trump White House, it was revealed that several news networks had rebuffed offers to hire Spicer as a political pundit.