On Sunday, September 17, the 2017 Emmys aired with an appearance and skit by former White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer. It appears the Emmy’s wanted to make light of the lies that Spicer told as press secretary about the crowd size of Donald Trump’s inauguration with a skit about the Emmy crowd size.
I am still fuming at Spicer’s appearance. Sean Spicer should have been booed and hissed off the stage. Instead Spicer appeared afterwards to be having the time of his life with meeting, greeting, partying and taking selfies with celebrities.
During his brief stint as press secretary, Spicer told lie after lie each day, in an apparent attempt to appease his boss. His biggest and first of many lies was that the Trump inauguration crowd size was the largest that there had ever been in history. After his Emmys appearance, he now asserts he regrets telling this lie—as if it was no harm, no foul. A lie is still a lie. And the Emmys giving Spicer any media platform sends a wrong message.
Contrast Sean Spicer’s mainstream acceptance with that of rejection of ESPN co-host Jemele Hill’s comments. Jemele Hill, in a series of tweets on September 11, stated that Donald Trump is a white supremacist— “Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.” Hill in a series of tweets, stated her reasons for asserting Trump is a white supremacist. Hill stands by her September 11 personal statements and provides specific reasons in an interview with the Washington Post.
Hill’s comments stem from Trumps’ association with known white supremacists, the birther movement, derogatory comments about Mexicans and Blacks, among others. Current White House Press Secretary Sara Hucklebee Sanders called for Hill’s firing. And a host of other persons including Donald Trump negatively weighed in on her comments. Hill’s truthful opinion almost costs her job.
Spicer’s lies get rewards and perks for him. He is now weighing options as a TV commentator, speaker engagements with high fees and a host of other media perks—all due to his lies. Who knows Spicer may be even given his own show. It could be called, “How I Lied My Way to Fame and Fortune.”.
I know there are folks who will say that Spicer’s Emmy appearance was meant as parody and humor. After all, Trump critic Stephen Colbert came up with the idea. Sorry but I cannot find humor with Spicer who made a mockery of the White House with constant lies throughout his brief tenure as press secretary.
Growing up, my parents always stressed the importance of being truthful. As a trial attorney, I always advise my clients to tell the truth. I advise them that bad things will happen if you get caught in a lie. In today’s world with the election of Donald Trump, we have come to apparently accept lies as the new norm. And Sean Spicer proves once again that lying pays.
In the case of truth versus lies, lies win. Unfortunately, it’s the truth that may get you fired.
Washington, DC based Debbie Hines is a trial lawyer, legal analyst and former Baltimore City prosecutor.