The US President was not happy with former White House press secretary Sean Spicer after he incorrectly claimed Donald Trump's inauguration drew the "largest audience ever", an event which some say sparked a new era of 'fake news' and 'alternative facts'.
Famous for front-footing some of Mr Trump's more controversial statements, TVNZ1's Q+A host Corin Dann asked Mr Spicer about his time working for the Trump administration, and more recently, why he described Mr Trump as "a unicorn, riding a union, riding on a rainbow".
Mr Spicer makes this comparison in his new book, The Briefing: Politics, the Press, and the President.
"I'm trying to explain the uniqueness of both his campaign and his candidacy and now his presidency," Mr Spicer said after trying to find the most "extreme" way to describe Mr Trump.
Mr Spicer disagreed with the notion that he was effectively paid to lie for Mr Trump, while he was press secretary for six months.
Spicer spent a memorable eight months as the White House press secretary, and has now written a book about it. (Source: Other)
"Part of the reason why I wanted to write this book was so people understood what I was going through personally during this period as well as the circumstances surrounding most of those major seminal events that people saw around the world.”
He said his rapid rise to notoriety was "intense, to say the least".
Mr Dann asked if he regretted saying Mr Trump's inauguration was the biggest ever, despite photographic evidence showing otherwise.
"If that could have a do-over on that day, I would. I think no one was happy with me that day, the President certainly wasn't. I think there's no question that is a whole day that really set the tone and the dye was cast going forward. Clearly didn't do a good job of communicating."
Mr Spicer said he could have "unequivocally could have done a much better job" of expressing the President's support.
A narrative of 'fake news' and 'alternative facts' developed from that time period, with Mr Dann asking what damage was caused because of it.
"What we've got to do is recognise good journalists; good tenacious journalists who are professional and then also at the same time be willing to call out journalists whose stories are false or perpetuate false narratives," Mr Spicer said.
Mr Dann said there are numerous examples where Mr Trump has not told the truth or was not upfront with the public on issues, and asked if Mr Spicer could describe him as a truthful President.
"I think the President in his own books, going back decades now, talks about his use of hyperbole. He's a salesman and a businessman and a negotiator first and foremost, so he's got his own vernacular he uses and I think people who are around him are well aware of that.
"He likes to flatter people and ingratiate himself to them. He’s constantly trying to get a deal made and so he talks about it himself in his book, the use of exaggerated hyperbole, I think is the term he used."
Mr Spicer said it was not the job of a press secretary to interpret or correct the President, "it's to communicate his message in the absence of him to do it himself".
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