Sean Spicer, the first individual to serve as President Donald Trump’s press secretary during a tumultuous four-year term, has applied to join the White House Correspondents’ Association (WCHA).
Spicer told Politico that he already has congressional credentials and a White House access badge and that he has been at the White House multiple times over the last few months to interview officials.
“I thought, why not?” he said. “I cover the White House every day on the show, and I have obviously had a lot to say about the coverage of the White House and the Correspondents’ Association over the last few years. You’re never gonna effect [sic] change if you stay on the sidelines.”
The outlet noted that the WCHA will make a decision in the coming weeks.
Spicer’s announcement is an oddball one considering his often combative attitude toward the press. During his tenure, he often scorned the WCHA and accused reporters of harboring bias toward President Donald Trump and his administration.
In what is perhaps his most infamous moment, Spicer doubled down at the start of Trump’s term on the president’s claims that his inauguration had been attended by more people than any inauguration in history. (That turned out not to be true.)
“Our intention is never to lie to you,” Spicer said at the time. “You’re in the same boat: I mean, there are times when you guys tweet something out or write a story and you publish a correction. That doesn’t mean that you were intentionally trying to deceive readers and the American people, does it? And I think that we should be afforded the same opportunity.”
Spicer’s behavior sparked considerable parody and hurt the United States’ standing abroad as President Trump accused news outlets of publishing “fake news” and then-presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway coined the term “alternative facts.” Actress Melissa McCarthy later won an Emmy for playing an angry, embittered Spicer on episodes of Saturday Night Live.
