Incoming Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer on the Media: ‘Business as Usual Is Over’

On Thursday’s broadcast of Hugh Hewitt’s syndicated radio show, incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer told listeners to expect “business as usual” to come to an end regarding how President-elect Donald Trump will communicate with the American people and the media.

Spicer said it will be more about using other means and giving the American people a better product for their money.

Partial transcript as follows (courtesy of “The Hugh Hewitt Show):

HUGH HEWITT: Do you expect him to keep up a regular and as energetic a series of press conferences as previous presidents? Do you expect him to be more or less engaged than previous presidents with that setting, that formal East Room setting sort of thing?

SEAN SPICER: Yeah, that’s a good question, because I think the thing that you’ve seen with Donald Trump is that he doesn’t, he doesn’t look to the past and say I’ve got to conform to these precedents. He figures out what’s the best way. And so maybe we do, you know, a series of press conferences, but maybe we do some town hall, you know, Facebook town halls. Maybe we go out and solicit input from Twitter. I don’t, I mean, the answer is we’re looking at a lot of things.

But there’s no question that you see through the platforms that exist right now, whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, he’s closing in like 45 million people that he can have a conversation with, that there are new and modern tools that exist that while we have to sort of do these press conferences because they’re part of the fabric of our country, if you will, there are also some new opportunities that we can be utilizing to bring more people into the process and have a conservation with the American people and not just limit it through the filter of the mainstream media.

HEWITT: But Sean, you know by dis-intermediating the media, that’s a big word, it’s going to confuse the Steelers fans, but by doing it, you’re going to upset them. That’s how they make their money, right? If they don’t, if the President can go directly to the people repeatedly, they are out of, they’re out of gas in a certain respect, aren’t they?

SPICER: Yeah, but that’s the point, is that I’ve said this before, Hugh. Business as usual is over. And I think what I mean by that is that you know, the President-elect looks at this and says what’s best for the country? How do we put America and Americans first and stop trying to figure out how we cater to you know, pundits and the establishment class, big donors. He is putting Americans first and foremost. And when he talks about Americans first, he means I don’t care what a bunch of elites tell me or people at a dinner party. He wants to know what American workers care about, what American families care about, what’s going to help American businesses grow.

And so yes, if we have to maintain some traditions, we’ll maintain them. And I think, but the point that we’re doing with everything, whether it’s the people or the processes, if we’re looking at them and saying can we do these things better, and bring more Americans into them, respect the American taxpayer more, and yield a better result, but that’s how he, that’s sort of, when we talk about the businesslike approach to the presidency, it’s not, it’s more of a philosophy which says can we do it smarter and better so that we respect the American taxpayer and we give them a better product, right?

And so I think that’s where sometimes the liberal media gets this wrong. It’s not saying we’re going to treat it like a business, quote unquote. It’s making sure that there’s a mentality that says can we make sure we get the American people a better product for their money so that they’re enjoying their lives better, they have more opportunity, we’re growing jobs, wages have a better thing, and you know, that regulations are a fundamental part of them, where we’re looking at them and saying what can we ensure we do so that we’re not hampering businesses from helping our own people get more in their paycheck.

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor

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