February 19, 2025 • 7 mins
Sean Spicer joins Mendte in the Morning to talk about the beginning of the Trump presidency. Sean discusses what Trump has gotten done so far and what he needs to focus on going forward.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Sewn Spicer's Donald Trump's first press secretary is the host
of the Sewn Spicer Show. You can find him on
the iHeartRadio app and he's got a great opinion piece
in Newsweek right now. You can read it by going
to newsweek dot com. Sewan, thanks so much for being
on the show again. Before we get to your opinion
(00:21):
piece about immigration, I've been thinking about you every time
I see Caroline Levitt press conference, and she has it
easy compared to what you went through. And as a
matter of fact, all of the first term press secretaries
that followed you, the media was vicious both in the
(00:44):
briefing room and on television, as vicious as the Democrats
were who they were representing. When you watch Caroline Levitt
and how they have learned so much about how to
handle the press and a press room, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Well, good morning, Larry. It's great to be with you
again more and I got to be honest with you.
I do get a bit.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Jealous, of.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Course, but look, I will just start with this. She
is unbelievably talented and you can't take that away. You
can't fake it. And like any good player, I make
too many sports analogies despite not playing really well at
any sports. But you know, if you think about it,
Tom Brady is a talented person, no matter what Bill
(01:34):
Belichick as a coach might have made him better. And
I think he gives credit to him. But at the
end of the day, Caroline's a very intelligent and talented
individual and that comes through in the briefing room. That
being said, it's a multi faceted equation. Right, So you
have her at the podium, very talented, very smart. Then
you've got President Trump, and I think his expectations. You know,
(01:56):
I go back to when we were in the transition.
President Trump said to me, Sean going to be the
most traditional president ever, And I thought, oh cool, I
know tradition, like I was in the Bush White House,
like I I know how to I know that. So
this is going to be great because I know I
know him and I know tradition, and so I'll kind
of learn how the price works and then we'll all
get along. And and he was still getting to know
(02:18):
the office and and understand the processes and and anyway.
Uh so, uh that that piece of it is crucial.
She has a really good relationship with Donald Trump. She
understands him. And then to your point, Larry, the press
had a ball like you know, if you recall, it
(02:40):
was like Jim Acosta, the you know, jumping up and down,
making a clown of himself. And then and this is
an honest truth when I tell people like what it
was like in those days, this is like, there was
a correspondent for Playboy magazine, which is again proof that
there are articles in there. And and his name was
Brian Carum. And after I am left, Sarah Sanders was
(03:02):
my replacement, and he kind of got into it with her,
and as a result of that viral moment, CNN offered
him a contract. Right, they offered April Ryan a contract
because she got into it with me. They weren't getting
They weren't hiring people because they were talented journalists, or
they had great sources, or they broke stories. They they
hired them because they made a spectacle of themselves in
(03:24):
the briefing room and it created a show. And I
think Caroline has tamed the beast because one the reporters
learned that it didn't go well for a lot of them.
I mean, you look at Jim Acosta, He's out, and
it might have given him a sugar bullet verst in
terms of but the resistance of the media writ large
is not the same as it was, and I don't
(03:46):
think that they're getting the same applause lines that they
got even from their own networks, that they might have
eight years ago. So the dynamic has shifted entirely. And
so you know, Caroline, the other thing is, remember she
worked in the Donald Trump first term press office under
Kelly Mcamaney. So going back to my sports analogy, right,
(04:07):
she had taken some that baths, she had seen the
process work, she knew how so when she walked in
day one, she was familiar with the how the office worked,
the process, the responsibilities, all that kind of stuff. And
that's a very important thing to do because it's not
like you walk in and you just go I mean,
even in you know your job, you go into a
new station, you learn the personnel, you learn how, the
(04:30):
cadence of you know how how every every business, every
job has a has a has a newness to it.
And she was able to walk in I think, really
understanding the job in a different way.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yeah, she's done a phenomenal job. I want to spend
the rest of the time talking about your opinion piece
in Newsweek. Again, we're talking to Sean Spicer and you
can read his opinion piece at newsweek dot com. The
title of it kind of sets it up perfectly. Executive
orders are a good start, but we need lasting immigration
in reform that sometimes is easier said than done. What
(05:04):
are your suggestions?
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So here's the overall point is President Trump, I think,
has done a phenomenal job addressing the border. And we
were gasolate for four years telling us that there wasn't
a problem, they weren't criminals, the borders were closed. We
obviously see that that wasn't true. But what can be
done by executive order can be undone by executive order.
So we saw President Biden come in office undo a
lot of what President Trump had done by executive or
(05:28):
President Trump then undoes what Biden does. And my point is,
while we have a Republican Congress in both the House
and the Senate, get the fundamentals, talk about hiring more
the budget for the CDP and ICE agents, customs and
Border Patrol and immigration Customs Enforcement USS. You get all
(05:49):
of this stuff locked in in law so that the
next president can't undo it, and that's the thing. We
know we have a broken immigration system. We know that
there's a big debate over you know, different visas. We
need to basically say, guys, let's you know, there's a game.
What was one of those reality TV games where they
you know, they the money goes up and then you
(06:10):
bank it. And I'm like, guys, we need to bank it.
We need while we have a Republican Congress, get the
part of immigration reform that we agree on. Because if
Democrats take back the House and it's a pretty you know,
I think Republicans have a really good shot of retaining
the House, but it's a slim majority in histories against us,
and once that happens, you change the dynamic and Democrats
(06:30):
are going to say, Okay, here's what we want. Maybe
it's just a bunch of people on the path of
citizenship or something. So while Republicans control everything, don't miss
this opportunity to lock it in legislatively.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah. I agree with you one thousand percent, and you
can read more about that. Executive orders are a good start,
but we need lasting immigration reform. By Sean Spicer, Trump's
first press secretary, host of Sewn Spicer Show, Find Him
on the iHeartRadio app and also on YouTube, and you
(07:02):
can read this opinion piece at newsweek dot com. Sean
has always hope you come back, enjoy talking to you.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Can you tell me anytime you want, Larry, thanks for
having me.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
That's wonderful, Sean Spicer. It is amazing though, when you
watch I love when we talked to Reagan Reese and
she said on the first day, on the first day
that Trump was in the office and she was in
the briefing room, she got more questions than she did
in the entire Biden administration because she was a conservative
and they just didn't call on you. This guy calls
(07:33):
on everybody. Sean Spicer must look at that and go great. Now,
now they're treating the Press secretary well because he was
ripped apart by the media.
Well.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Sewn Spicer's Donald Trump's first press secretary is the host
of the Sewn Spicer Show. You can find him on
the iHeartRadio app and he's got a great opinion piece
in Newsweek right now. You can read it by going
to newsweek dot com. Sewan, thanks so much for being
on the show again. Before we get to your opinion
(00:21):
piece about immigration, I've been thinking about you every time
I see Caroline Levitt press conference, and she has it
easy compared to what you went through. And as a
matter of fact, all of the first term press secretaries
that followed you, the media was vicious both in the
(00:44):
briefing room and on television, as vicious as the Democrats
were who they were representing. When you watch Caroline Levitt
and how they have learned so much about how to
handle the press and a press room, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Well, good morning, Larry. It's great to be with you
again more and I got to be honest with you.
I do get a bit.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Jealous, of.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Course, but look, I will just start with this. She
is unbelievably talented and you can't take that away. You
can't fake it. And like any good player, I make
too many sports analogies despite not playing really well at
any sports. But you know, if you think about it,
Tom Brady is a talented person, no matter what Bill
(01:34):
Belichick as a coach might have made him better. And
I think he gives credit to him. But at the
end of the day, Caroline's a very intelligent and talented
individual and that comes through in the briefing room. That
being said, it's a multi faceted equation. Right, So you
have her at the podium, very talented, very smart. Then
you've got President Trump, and I think his expectations. You know,
(01:56):
I go back to when we were in the transition.
President Trump said to me, Sean going to be the
most traditional president ever, And I thought, oh cool, I
know tradition, like I was in the Bush White House,
like I I know how to I know that. So
this is going to be great because I know I
know him and I know tradition, and so I'll kind
of learn how the price works and then we'll all
get along. And and he was still getting to know
(02:18):
the office and and understand the processes and and anyway.
Uh so, uh that that piece of it is crucial.
She has a really good relationship with Donald Trump. She
understands him. And then to your point, Larry, the press
had a ball like you know, if you recall, it
(02:40):
was like Jim Acosta, the you know, jumping up and down,
making a clown of himself. And then and this is
an honest truth when I tell people like what it
was like in those days, this is like, there was
a correspondent for Playboy magazine, which is again proof that
there are articles in there. And and his name was
Brian Carum. And after I am left, Sarah Sanders was
(03:02):
my replacement, and he kind of got into it with her,
and as a result of that viral moment, CNN offered
him a contract. Right, they offered April Ryan a contract
because she got into it with me. They weren't getting
They weren't hiring people because they were talented journalists, or
they had great sources, or they broke stories. They they
hired them because they made a spectacle of themselves in
(03:24):
the briefing room and it created a show. And I
think Caroline has tamed the beast because one the reporters
learned that it didn't go well for a lot of them.
I mean, you look at Jim Acosta, He's out, and
it might have given him a sugar bullet verst in
terms of but the resistance of the media writ large
is not the same as it was, and I don't
(03:46):
think that they're getting the same applause lines that they
got even from their own networks, that they might have
eight years ago. So the dynamic has shifted entirely. And
so you know, Caroline, the other thing is, remember she
worked in the Donald Trump first term press office under
Kelly Mcamaney. So going back to my sports analogy, right,
(04:07):
she had taken some that baths, she had seen the
process work, she knew how so when she walked in
day one, she was familiar with the how the office worked,
the process, the responsibilities, all that kind of stuff. And
that's a very important thing to do because it's not
like you walk in and you just go I mean,
even in you know your job, you go into a
new station, you learn the personnel, you learn how, the
(04:30):
cadence of you know how how every every business, every
job has a has a has a newness to it.
And she was able to walk in I think, really
understanding the job in a different way.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yeah, she's done a phenomenal job. I want to spend
the rest of the time talking about your opinion piece
in Newsweek. Again, we're talking to Sean Spicer and you
can read his opinion piece at newsweek dot com. The
title of it kind of sets it up perfectly. Executive
orders are a good start, but we need lasting immigration
in reform that sometimes is easier said than done. What
(05:04):
are your suggestions?
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So here's the overall point is President Trump, I think,
has done a phenomenal job addressing the border. And we
were gasolate for four years telling us that there wasn't
a problem, they weren't criminals, the borders were closed. We
obviously see that that wasn't true. But what can be
done by executive order can be undone by executive order.
So we saw President Biden come in office undo a
lot of what President Trump had done by executive or
(05:28):
President Trump then undoes what Biden does. And my point is,
while we have a Republican Congress in both the House
and the Senate, get the fundamentals, talk about hiring more
the budget for the CDP and ICE agents, customs and
Border Patrol and immigration Customs Enforcement USS. You get all
(05:49):
of this stuff locked in in law so that the
next president can't undo it, and that's the thing. We
know we have a broken immigration system. We know that
there's a big debate over you know, different visas. We
need to basically say, guys, let's you know, there's a game.
What was one of those reality TV games where they
you know, they the money goes up and then you
(06:10):
bank it. And I'm like, guys, we need to bank it.
We need while we have a Republican Congress, get the
part of immigration reform that we agree on. Because if
Democrats take back the House and it's a pretty you know,
I think Republicans have a really good shot of retaining
the House, but it's a slim majority in histories against us,
and once that happens, you change the dynamic and Democrats
(06:30):
are going to say, Okay, here's what we want. Maybe
it's just a bunch of people on the path of
citizenship or something. So while Republicans control everything, don't miss
this opportunity to lock it in legislatively.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah. I agree with you one thousand percent, and you
can read more about that. Executive orders are a good start,
but we need lasting immigration reform. By Sean Spicer, Trump's
first press secretary, host of Sewn Spicer Show, Find Him
on the iHeartRadio app and also on YouTube, and you
(07:02):
can read this opinion piece at newsweek dot com. Sean
has always hope you come back, enjoy talking to you.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Can you tell me anytime you want, Larry, thanks for
having me.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
That's wonderful, Sean Spicer. It is amazing though, when you
watch I love when we talked to Reagan Reese and
she said on the first day, on the first day
that Trump was in the office and she was in
the briefing room, she got more questions than she did
in the entire Biden administration because she was a conservative
and they just didn't call on you. This guy calls
(07:33):
on everybody. Sean Spicer must look at that and go great. Now,
now they're treating the Press secretary well because he was
ripped apart by the media.
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