The White House is looking for a new press secretary: Spicer or nicer?

If the White House Press Secretary podium is a game of musical chairs, the DJ’s hand is hovering dangerously close to the “pause” button.

At least, that’s what media reports tell us—Sean Spicer, President Trump’s (on again, off again) Communications Director and Press Secretary, may be moving into a new role at the White House, permanently removing him from the podium.

For the first six months of the Administration, Spicer has routinely appeared for daily press briefings to defend attacks on, and answer questions about, his shoot-from-the hip boss and his policies.

{mosads}But after several months of harsh criticism and bad press, those daily on-camera briefings are becoming less and less frequent—a break from decades-long presidential protocol—and less and less substantive. In fact, Wednesday marked the first on-camera briefing in eight days, during which Spicer routinely said “I’ll get back to you.”

So, is this just President Trump making good on his tweet to cancel press briefings all together?

…Maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future “press briefings” and hand out written responses for the sake of accuracy???

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017

Maybe. Or maybe the White House thinks there is someone out there better able to message the actions of our commander-in-chief. If so, where did Spicer go wrong?

Choose your battles

Spicer got off to a rough start when he chose to defend the crowd size at President Trump’s inauguration. Apparently the media used misleading photos to report on the number of attendees, and Spicer said “not on my watch.” He even doubled down, stressing it was the largest crowd to ever witness an inauguration. Though he may have been right, that the media played petty with Trump, it was a losing battle in the eyes of the public and the press corps—We have bigger issues to deal with.

The tweets

Spicer has messaged a long list of issues that directly contradict President Trump’s tweets. One example is the high-stakes policy deicison concerning the travel ban. Spicer insisted from behind the podium that “it’s not a travel ban,” yet President Trump tweeted:

If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the “bad” would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad “dudes” out there!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017

If you and your boss can’t figure out the good words/bad words to use when talking about an important issue, you’re going to take the fall for it.

SNL

Late night TV’s mockery of presidents and their senior staff is nothing new, but the intensity (and accuracy) of Melissa McCarthy’s “Spicy” left him looking more like a caricature of himself than the original. If more people know the “SNL you” than the “real you,” you’re doing it wrong.

So if, in fact, a large part of Spicer’s loss of credibility was him just doing his job—speaking for Trump, peddling his message—what’s a press secretary to do? Here are a few hottakes Trump’s next hire should consider to channel his or her inner Tony Snow: 

Be likable

Two of the best past press secretaries in my opinion were Tony Snow and Dana Perino. And I think a large part of their success was due to likability. 

The key to likeability in a tough, combative job? Be a happy warrior. Winston Churchill once said “I like a man who grins when he fights.” And I think the press corps and public do too.

It’s important to build a relationship with the press. It won’t just help their interpretation of events, but as a White House Press Secretary the audience can see live your interaction with them. Treating them respectfully will go a long way. Even if they do ask a hostile question—you get more points if you are the winner of the round by keeping your cool and staying on message.

Control the message

Speaking of message, this has not been consistent in the Trump administration. While it’s futile to tell the president to stop tweeting, but there has to be a way for him and his team to stay on message.

Although the press secretary ultimately takes orders from his boss, making sure there is no space between his or her message and the president’s needs to be goal number one, no matter how hard it is to achieve.

If you lose the message, you lose respect.

Ying or Yang?

One of the questions to ask is if the press secretary should be a reflection of the president or a counter. Spicer did try to take on the bully pulpit. He tried to show the Trump brand, but ultimately didn’t get where he needed to go. It’s a balancing act. You must embrace the authenticity of the president while softening the rough spots. Call it like it is, but keep your composure, add a smile, and use the wording you want. 

Spicer’s exit will launch 1,001 articles/tweets/happy hour conversations analyzing what went wrong and why this is or isn’t a good move by the Trump administration. Maybe Spicer just wasn’t a good fit, but it also seems reasonable to wonder if anyone will be.