Former Presidential Press Secretary Sean Spicer slammed Politico as “not accurate” today, after the news website published a big story claiming that the Worldwide Speakers Group mysteriously removed the word “candor” from Spicer’s online bio.
In the original story by Annie Karni, Politico insisted that the speaker group removed the word “candor” from the online bio a short time after Spicer joined the organization offering his services as a speaker.
The claim came to Spicer’s attention after a Tweet by Politico’s Kenneth Vogel, who insisted that the “speakers bureau no longer advertising his ‘candor.’ Instead, it refers to his ‘trademark style behind the WH podium.'”
UPDATE: @SeanSpicer's speakers bureau no longer advertising his "candor." Instead, it refers to his "trademark style behind the WH podium." https://t.co/8hVgzImZVR
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) September 5, 2017
Spicer immediately replied to Vogel’s claim, saying nothing had changed in the bio.
Par for the course – not accurate. The page has not changed. https://t.co/REkBPk7aVJ
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) September 5, 2017
The confusion apparently came after an email was sent to Politico by the speaker group.
“We are thrilled to provide Sean for our major trade association, corporate, university and public lecture series customers around the world. With his well-known candor and extensive experience, Sean is uniquely qualified to help audiences understand how the political environment will impact them now and in the future,” the email said.
Sure enough, a look at Spicer’s bio on the Worldwide Speakers Group webpage reveals no appearance of the word “candor.”
The former Press Sec followed up his initial Tweet with an explanation of what happened with the bio.
You are certainly the best troll out there but the bio website is the same. The email was a separate press release https://t.co/LpXerBwLAs
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) September 5, 2017
Spicer then added more:
Nope. One was an email one was a bio page. That page remains the same https://t.co/hVeNl3SsaB
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) September 5, 2017
It wasn’t long before Politico felt enough pressure to update the story to reflect the fact that the word “candor” appeared only in an email announcing Spicer’s inclusion in the speaker’s service and never appeared in the inline bio in the first place.
Writer Annie Karni also jumped to her own Twitter to “clarify” the mistake, if not to apologize.
He's right. Deleting tweet and clarifying the story. https://t.co/qWREUnDAkx
— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) September 5, 2017
Ultimately the news website added an update to the story reading:
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that after POLITICO published the article, the speakers’ bureau deleted any mention of “candor” from Spicer’s online bio. The story has been updated to reflect that the “candor” mention was in an email announcement to customers about Spicer, not in the online bio.
Politico noted that Spicer’s first paid speaking engagement will be in New York City on Sept. 11, at the annual conference of the investment bank Rodman & Renshaw.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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