President Trump’s press secretary is married to a former television producer who used to work for George W. Bush.
Press Secretary Sean Spicer, the former spokesman for the Republican National Committee, has become a contentious and high-profile figure due to his angry interactions with the news media and incredible claims that the Trump inauguration drew more audience than any past president.
Those claims are contradicted by television ratings and aerial videos.
However, Spicer’s wife, Rebecca Miller Spice, is a former member of the news media herself.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Spicer’s Wife Is a Former Television Producer
@RitaCosby asks @RebeccaMSpicer what kind of beer she likes.The one in my hand.@CNN @LongViewGallery #WHCA #nerdprom
Before switching into political and other public relations, Rebecca Spicer worked as a producer for five years at WJLA-TV, according to her LinkedIn page. The position was based in the Washington D.C. area.
She also worked as a television producer at KTRK-TV for 2 years in Houston.
An online biography of Spicer says she spent 12 years in television news.
“She produced the 6 p.m. newscast at WJLA in Washington, D.C., which received the Outstanding Newscast Award from the Associated Press and received an Emmy Award nomination for coverage on September 11, 2001,” the bio says. “Spicer also worked at television stations in Houston, TX; New Haven, CT; and Birmingham, AL; as well as CNN in Atlanta. She began her career as a high school intern helping with ‘Snow Bird’ school cancellations at WSMV in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee.”
Spicer was working in television when she married Sean Spicer in 2004.
2. Rebecca Spicer Worked For the Bush White House
Cheers to local news legend @abc7pege, turning in her camera after 42 years… And still smiling! #wjla #lifeafterTV
Rebecca Spicer worked in the White House too. Her LinkedIn page says that she was the associate director of Communications for the George W. Bush White House.
She worked in that position from 2006 to 2007. An online biography of Spicer says she was assigned to “producing televised events for President George W. Bush.”
3. Rebecca Spicer Works in PR For the Beer Industry
Great day with @salarmynca & 2015 #AngelTree distribution. Bringing a bright Christmas to 6,000 kids in DC!
According to her Linked In page, Rebecca Spicer currently works in a public relations position in the beer industry.
Her page describes her as Senior Vice President, Communications & Public Affairs at National Beer Wholesalers Association.
Thanks @NBWABeer colleagues for helping @SalArmyNCA Grate Patrol deliver meals to those in need. @SalvationArmyUs
On Twitter, she says she is “SVP of Comms & Public Affairs @nbwabeer.”
A biography of Spicer on an adoption website says, “As the chief communications officer, she manages the communications strategy for the trade association, which represents 3,300 licensed, independent beer distributors nationwide. She manages internal, membership and external communications and also develops and executes key public relations strategies related to the association’s advocacy priorities.” She is on the board of directors of the National Council of Adoption.
4. She is a Tennessee Native & Mother
@jmeacham making #Sewanee proud with his new book about #GeorgeBush41. #DestinyAndPower #YSR @MaxAngerholzer
On Twitter, Rebecca Spicer describes herself as, “Mother of the Year (just ask the kiddos) and Tennessee native. Views are my own.”
Rebecca graduated from the University of Indiana in Bloomington with a degree in Telecommunications.
The Spicers have two children and live in Virginia.
5. Sean Spicer’s Battles With the Press Are Already Becoming Legendary
Sean Spicer leaves Trump Tower in New York on November, 13, 2016. (Getty)
They say that an axiom of public relations is not to become the story yourself; however, Sean Spicer has wasted no time in becoming the story.
In his first press briefing since Trump was inaugurated, Spicer went to immediate war with the press, angrily accusing the media of dishonest coverage. He was upset that a Time Magazine reporter erroneously said that a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. was removed from the White House. The reporter corrected the report.
He also lambasted the press, claiming that Trump’s inauguration crowds were the largest in history, but many in the media have contested this Spicer claim as well as others. Aerial photos clearly show larger crowds for Barack Obama, and Spicer also made other false claims, such as that the Trump inauguration was the first time that ground coverings were used.
Spicer’s briefing sparked Twitter memes, jokes, and outrage and the hashtag #SpicerFacts.
His briefing was notable for how angry it was right off the bat; Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway then got into a dispute on Meet the Press, arguing that Spicer was using “alternative facts.” Host Chuck Todd responded that they were falsehoods, and Spicer has been criticized by other former press secretaries.
However, at a press conference on January 23, Spicer struck a more conciliatory and explanatory tone with the press, saying, that his “intention is never to lie to you” and complaining that the “default narrative is always negative,” which he called “demoralizing.”
You can watch Spicer’s second press conference here:
