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Sean Spicer Resigns As White House Press Secretary

Photo: Cheriss May/NurPhoto/Getty Images.
On Friday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer resigned. The New York Times reports he told President Trump he didn't agree with his pick for a new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci. According to The Times, the president asked Spicer to remain in the position, but Spicer stepped down any way.
President Trump announced earlier Friday morning that he had chosen Scaramucci, a Wall Street financier, to lead the White House communications team. Axios reports Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was also surprised by the pick.
There's been speculation for weeks that Spicer was looking for a replacement for himself, so his resignation wasn't a total shock. However, he was reportedly looking to move to a different White House position, so abruptly resigning was a bigger move than expected.
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Spicer had largely stepped back from holding White House press briefings, frequently handing them over to the White House deputy press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. And both Spicer and Sanders have held off-camera briefings recently, much to the frustration of White House reporters.
CNN White House reporter Jim Acosta told The Hill after a June off-camera briefing, "The White House press secretary is getting to a point where he’s just kind of useless."
Spicer tweeted a few hours after the news of his departure broke, writing that it was an honor to serve the president and that he will stay in his position through August.
The people of Twitter had a field day with the news of his resignation, speculating about what Spicer would do next and making fun of his stint as press secretary.
Some were also sad at the prospect of losing Melissa McCarthy's legendary Saturday Night Live impersonations of Spicer.
But, others came to Spicer's defense... kind of.
It's unclear who will take Spicer's place, but Huckabee will likely fill the role of acting press secretary in the meantime. One thing is clear, though: The days of mocking Spicer's briefing gaffes are over.
This story was originally published at 12:10 p.m.
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