Sean Spicer is no longer a top draw at the White House, but he’s huge in Europe, the former press secretary says.
Spicer, who just signed on with a speakers agency to start getting paid for his occasionally-mangled sentences, became gained global notoriety through his sparring sessions with the press.
Now, as he prepares to make his first speech to a New York investment bank, Spicer says is talking up his trans-Atlantic appeal, saying he got mobbed on a trip to Europe.
‘The U.S. press briefing had become part of their nightly viewing,’ Spicer told Axios.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer calls on reporters during the daily press briefing at the White House May 15, 2017 in Washington, DC. Now he can earn thousands per appearance as a paid speaker
‘It was a prime-time show from Europe to the Middle East. … I’m one of the most popular guys in Ireland,’ he told the publication.
An agent who courted Spicer told him that former White House press secretaries could command $20,000 to $30,000 per speech. Spicer believed he could get more.
‘He thought he was a much bigger deal than the others,’ the agent told the publication.
‘His name I.D. is massive — he’s obsessed with that. He kept talking about how everyone stops him for selfies — that’s one of his go-to lines. It’s true, by the way. It happened when I was talking to him.’
‘I’m one of the most popular guys in Ireland,’ Spicer said, saying people ask him to snap selfies wherever he goes
NO SUCH THING AS BAD PUBLICITY: Worldwide Speakers Group touts Melissa McCarthy’s brutal impression of Spicer on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in its online bio about him
Spicer has signed on with an agency to begin a career as a well-paid speaker – and the firm is touting comedian Melissa McCarthy’s brutal impression of him on ‘Saturday Night Live.’
The firm, Worldwide Speakers Group, mentions the impression in the third paragraph of its online bio touting Spicer as a paid talker – in a pitch that stresses Spicer’s long Republican career and lists his role as President Donald Trump’s mouthpiece as one of many gigs.
‘Melissa McCarthy’s depiction of his press briefing performances earned him a spot in Saturday Night Live lore, but it was his role as the architect of the Republican National Committee’s PR strategy that earned him a reputation as one of the party’s most effective and hardest-charging strategists and communicators,’ according to the bio.
Spicer’s daily press briefings drew millions of TV viewers, who tuned in to catch his attacks on the press, as well as his occasional mangling of words and phrases and contorted defenses of his boss.
‘Everybody knows Sean Spicer. At least, polls show, they know his name and his trademark style behind the White House podium,’ says the bio.
‘But before the former White House Press Secretary made his mark as one of the most recognized staffers in the Trump administration, he built a decades-long career in Republican politics, witnessing and shaping the inner workings of Washington, DC, from every vantage point–as a House of Representatives communicator, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, Republican National Committee chief strategist, top advisor to presidential campaigns, and, of course, White House spokesman,’ it says.
Then comes the pitch: ‘Few in Washington are as well-equipped as Sean to pull back the curtain and dissect what’s really happening in the nation’s capital.’
Then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, January 24, 2017 in Washington, DC. Spicer did not offer evidence to support President Trump’s claim that millions of people voted illegally
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer conducts the daily press briefing at the White House March 31, 2017 in Washington, DC. Spicer fielded queiitons from reporters about Syria, allegations of Russia working with the Trump campaign and a variety of other subjects
Spicer walks into the West Wing of The White House on July 29, 2017 in Washington, DC
A press release touting Spicer produced by the agency touts Spicer’s ‘candor,’ Politico reported.
‘Audiences around the world will benefit from the same candor, wit and insight that Spicer brought to the White House briefing room,’ says the release.
His first paid appearance will be before investment bank Rodman & Renshaw in New York on Sept. 11, according to the publication.
Spicer had a strained relationship from his first day on the job, when he inaccurately claimed President Trump’s inauguration crowd size was bigger than that of President Barack Obama.
‘This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period — both in person and around the globe,’ he said.
Spicer’s bio also also tries to pitch him as someone who can appeal to more than just the Trump base.
‘Sean is a lifelong Republican operative who worked his way up through the ranks and whom colleagues know as relentless, quick-witted and good-humored,’ it states.
‘He helped the party successfully rebuild following losses in the 2012 election, and he then played a key role in the strategy behind the party’s sweeping 2014 victories, the must-see 2016 primary debates and the party’s improbable wins across the country that November.’