Sean Spicer's choice: Boost the Donald Trump brand or rebuild his own?

No tears for poor Sean Spicer, who finally resigned as White House press secretary after a series of humiliations that are too numerous to count. 

He’ll be fine. That’s how it goes in the Washington bubble or, as some call it, the swamp. 

A politician or political operative is caught in a sex scandal, forced to resign over ethics charges, fired for incompetence, convicted of corruption or leaves office in some ignominious fashion — and instead of slinking away, they prosper. Agents and bookers come after them with lucrative book deals, speaking engagements and jobs as political pundits on cable news. 

It’s likely Spicer will be offered all three, and is on his way to becoming a multi-millionaire if he plays his cards right. His biggest decision: Move forward as a Trump booster and apologist or try to regain the integrity and respect he previously held as communications director for the Republican National Committee? 

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There’s no shame or conflict of interest too big to preclude a lucrative future in Washington. 

Republican Newt Gingrich was forced to resign as Speaker of the House in 1998, after being dogged by a long-running ethics problem while in Congress that assured he would not be re-elected as speaker. Gingrich paid a fine of $300,000 and admitted he "engaged in conduct that did not reflect creditably on the House of Representatives." Gingrich’s infidelity, while simultaneously demanding President Clinton resign over his affair with an intern, was classic Washington hypocrisy. 

But today, Gingrich is a de facto Trump spokesperson appearing on Fox News and quoted often as a kind of éminence grise in newspapers. And his wife, Callista Gingrich, the woman he had an affair with for six years while he was Speaker and married, has been appointed ambassador to the Vatican. 

Another who has done well is former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, fired by Trump in June 2016 after various controversies that included a misdemeanor battery charge (later dropped) for grabbing a reporter’s arm. CNN quickly scarfed him up for a paying gig, but that didn’t last. He’s now working for the conservative One America News Network and reportedly shopping a book. 

Spicer quit after six months and one day because he disagreed vehemently with President Trump’s decision to make wealthy hedge fund financier, Anthony Scaramucci, White House communications director. Trump ignored Spicer’s concerns that Scaramucci would add to an already-chaotic press office, not reduce it. 

While Spicer technically resigned, his job has been in jeopardy practically from his first day in the White House. Bookies had odds on chances Spicer would be fired. 

What’s astonishing is how long it took for Spicer to resign. 

It’s difficult to imagine which humiliation Spicer will miss most: Comedian Melissa McCarthy parodying him on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, late-night comics ridiculing him, checking his integrity at the White House door or, most embarrassingly, not having authority as chief spokesperson to speak for the president. 

Many were stunned to watch Spicer’s hastily called press briefing the day after the inauguration. He angrily read a statement that “some reporters engaged in deliberately false reporting” about the number at Trump’s swearing in. National Park Service pictures clearly showed more people attended President Obama’s 2008 inauguration. 

“This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period,” said Spicer, in an on-camera meltdown, where he refused to take questions. 

This was just the beginning of Spicer’s dissembling, distorting, exaggerating and avoiding questions altogether. His press briefings got so contentious, and at times, Spicer so tongue-tied, that they became must-watch TV, until the White House pulled the plug three weeks ago, ending the diversion. 

Awkward moments between Spicer and the press abounded. Too many times, reporters asked questions that Spicer, as the president’s spokesperson, couldn’t answer because he was not in the loop. Further humiliation came June 2, when CNN flashed on the screen: “President’s Spokesman Says He Can’t Speak for the President.”

One might expect the president’s press spokesperson to be well-briefed on the big news of the day, but that was often not the case. Trump had campaigned vigorously on repealing the Affordable Care Act. When a reporter asked if the president had seen the secret health care bill Senate Republicans were crafting, he replied, “I don’t know.” Spicer also said he didn’t know if the president accepted the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion the Russians had hacked the 2016 election. 

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Trump contradicted Spicer many times, catching him off-guard and again, humiliating him. When Trump fired Comey, Spicer stood before the press, saying Trump made the decision based on a Justice Department recommendation. “It was all him,” Spicer, said referring to the memo’s author, Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein. 

Shortly after Spicer’s explanation, Trump said in an NBC interview, he had decided he would get rid of Comey regardless of the Justice Department memo. In other words, it was all Trump. 

Spicer plans to leave at the end of August, and there will be some measure of relief. No more uncomfortable questions about whether his job is safe. No more parading his lack of credibility or struggling to get his story straight. No more compromising positions. No more half-truths (we hope). No more conflicting timelines. No more dashing behind White House shrubbery to avoid cameras. 

He should be able to sleep better as he tries to regain his integrity — if indeed that’s what he intends to do. 

Alicia Shepard is a veteran media writer and a former ombudsman for NPR. Follow her on Twitter @Ombudsman

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