Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a new interview that he doesn’t regret taking the high-profile job in the Trump White House, but he does wish he hadn’t embarrassed himself, his family and his friends while in the administration.
MSNBC’s Craig Melvin aired a cut Monday of some of Spicer’s comments as press secretary, including his battles with reporters over crowd size at President Trump’s inauguration and his claim that Adolf Hitler never used chemical weapons.
{mosads}Melvin then asked Spicer if he regretted accepting the job of press secretary.
“No. I think in terms of net-net, I enjoyed having a front-row seat to history, was an opportunity of a lifetime,” Spicer said. “Did I make mistakes? Thank you for taking me down memory lane. Absolutely. Do I hope I grow as a person, as a friend, as a stranger to do better? Absolutely.”
But when Melvin pushed Spicer over whether he regretted taking the job, the former White House spokesman said he regretted some of his actions as press secretary.
“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,’” Spicer said.
He said part of the job was “having to tell the president of the United States, ‘Hey, I embarrassed myself, your administration, and in some cases I think, you know, did something the American people are probably not pleased with.’”
Spicer announced that he was leaving the administration last July after Trump hired Anthony Scaramucci for a brief tenure as communications director. Spicer departed the White House in August.
Spicer has said he regrets his exchanges with reporters about Trump’s inauguration crowd size, saying earlier this month that he “screwed that up royally.”