Slate - "What Happens When Trump's Rhetoric Is Too Outlandish for His Press Secretary to Defend"
by Will Oremus
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/01/24/why_sean_spicer_can_t_defend_trump_s_voter_fraud_claims_outright.html
Sean Spicer had to know the question was coming. President Trump had made headlines Monday night by reportedly claiming once again—this time in a meeting with congressional leaders—that fraudulent votes by illegal immigrants had cost him the popular vote. It’s a wild claim for which there is no credible evidence, and which has been widely and repeatedly debunked. Breaking with its own norms, the New York Times even called it a lie. (My colleague Ben Mathis-Lilley argues that’s actually the wrong word, in this instance.)
So on Tuesday, Trump’s press secretary had a ready response when reporters asked him whether the president really believed that. It just wasn’t a remotely satisfying one. And Spicer’s feeble struggle to reconcile his boss’ words with any semblance of reality provided an unsettling preview of the challenge the new administration will face in communicating with the country it’s supposed to be governing—let alone the wider world.
“The president does believe that,” Spicer said of the astonishing claim that the 2016 U.S. presidential election had been tainted by widespread voter fraud. “He has stated that before. I think he has stated his concerns of voter fraud and people voting illegally during the campaign, and he continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence that people have presented to him.”
That was Spicer’s response to part one of ABC News reporter Cecilia Vega’s question. But there was a part two: “What evidence do you have?”
Unfortunately, Spicer appeared to have left the answer to part two in his other pants pocket, or perhaps the glove compartment of his car. “I … I … As I said before, I think the president has believed that for a while based on studies and information he has,” he stammered, before trying hastily to move on. The press corps wasn’t having it, and several other reporters asked follow-ups. As he fielded them, Spicer began to sound increasingly like a broken record. We learned over the course of the press conference that:
“It’s a belief he maintains.”
“It’s a belief that he’s maintained for a while, a concern that he has about voter fraud, and that’s based on information provided to him.”
“It has been a longstanding belief that he’s maintained.”
snip -more to read.
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