Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer says daily briefing is 'not worth it'

Sean Spicer's tenure as press secretary was known for some contentious and confrontational briefings with the White House press corps — a perception crystallized in popular culture by Melissa McCarthy's portrayal on Saturday Night Live — and now Trump's former communications director says it might be time to do away with the daily briefing altogether.

Although the press office should continue to keep reporters informed, the daily briefing has become "a show" and is "worth re-examining," Spicer told C-SPAN on Sunday. 

"The Department of Defense and others don’t always have a daily briefing of an on-camera sense," Spicer said. "And I think a morning gaggle and, you know, selected days where you do an on-camera one is worth it. But the briefing has become more of a show than an outlet of information for the media." 

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On Spicer's first day behind thepodium he took a combative tone, accusing the news media of "deliberately false reporting" on the size of President Trump's inaugural crowd — a moment he later said he wished he could take back. That first briefing set an adversarial tone between the press secretary and the press that defined Spicer's time on the job and has continued with his successor Sarah Sanders. 

"I think we should provide the media on a daily basis answers to the questions that they have, updates to the issues that are ongoing. But I think that the time and effort that it takes to get that briefing going and what you get in return is not worth it anymore," Spicer said.