White House brushes off reporter who asks, ‘Where’s Sean?’

The White House said there is nothing strange about press secretary Sean Spicer’s absence from the briefing room on Monday, insisting that he couldn’t speak from the podium because he’s taken on more responsibilities.

Deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders filled in for Spicer, fielding tough questions from reporters about the litany of controversies surrounding tweets President Trump sent out earlier in the day.

Sanders said Spicer has more on his plate these days and couldn’t brief the press because he was filling in as communications director. Former communications director Mike Dubke resigned on Friday.

{mosads}“Where is Sean?” reporter April Ryan asked Sanders at the briefing.

“He’s here today,” Sanders responded. “This is part of my job as well. Did you guys ever ask any of the other deputy press secretaries when they were here?”

Sanders said that Spicer is “taking on a little bit of extra duty at this point” and cast it as an “upgrade” over his current role.

“It’s probably upgraded at this point, given we don’t have a communications director. There are a lot of demands on his schedule, particularly given the fact there is not a communications director. This is part of my job as well, and when I’m needed I will step in,” she continued.

There have been swirling rumors that Trump is not happy with Spicer as the primary public face of his administration, leading many to believe the press secretary could be moved out of the role of entirely.

Spicer tweeted a rebuke to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) moments after the press briefing ended.

Schumer had said the president is to blame for hundreds of vacancies in his government, after Trump charged that Democrats are “obstructionist.”

 Spicer waded into the back-and-forth, tweeting, some “facts” about the Senate’s speed on confirming Trump’s nominees.

Actually @SenSchumer here are the facts: @POTUS has sent 102 nominations, not 63. Senate has only confirmed 39. https://t.co/bId6YbqVrJ

— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) June 5, 2017