Sean Spicer knocks critics of his ‘spirited back-and-forth’ with April Ryan

A day after scolding journalist April Ryan during his daily briefing, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said criticism of the now-viral exchange is “demeaning” — to her.

“April is a tough reporter that knows how to throw it out and take it back,” Spicer said in a Wednesday interview on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show. “It’s frankly demeaning for some folks to say that she can’t take it. We went back and forth. I disagreed with her angle and the way she was coming at the question. But that’s what we do, we go back and forth. And I don’t treat one person different than the next.”

“We have very spirited back-and-forth,” Spicer explained. “I think that’s what makes her a tough reporter. Frankly I’m kind of astonished; I think if you look at the exchanges I have with [ABC News’] Jonathan Karl or [NBC’s] Peter Alexander or a number of the other individuals in the press briefing room, Jim Acosta from CNN, we go back and forth all the time, rather heatedly, in fact.”

On Tuesday, Spicer sparred with Ryan, the Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks, after she asked him how President Trump’s administration can “revamp” its public image while several controversies swirl around it.

“How does this administration revamp its image two and a half months in?” Ryan said. “You’ve got Russia, you’ve got wiretapping, you’ve got other things going on.”

“No, we don’t have that,” Spicer shot back. “You’ve got Russia. If the president puts Russian salad dressing on his salad tonight, somehow that’s a Russian connection.”

“I appreciate your agenda here,” he continued. “At some point, April, you’re going to have to take no for an answer. … It seems like you’re hellbent on trying to make sure that whatever image you want to tell about this White House stays.”

At one point, Spicer told Ryan, “Stop shaking your head again.”

Related: ‘Stop shaking your head’: Spicer scolds reporter at briefing

The directive drew a backlash from some — including former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton — who saw it as patronizing.

“Just look at all that’s happened in the last few days to women who were simply doing their job,” Clinton said during a speech in San Francisco on Tuesday night. “April Ryan, a respected journalist with unrivaled integrity, was doing her job just this afternoon in the White House press room when she was patronized and cut off trying to ask a question.”

Spicer scoffed at Clinton’s assessment on Hewitt’s show.

“I have an obligation frankly, Hugh, that when someone comes in and attacks the narrative or makes accusations against the administration, to push back, and push back tough,” Spicer said. “And I don’t look and say, ‘Well, I’m gonna push back lighter on this person because of their gender.’ I think it’s the exact opposite of what Secretary Clinton went after and tried to say somehow it’s patronizing. No, in fact, it’s not patronizing. What it is is treating April Ryan with the same pushback that I would any other reporter in that room.”

White House press secretary Sean Spicer speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)
White House press secretary Sean Spicer speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, March 29, 2017. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

At Wednesday’s press briefing, Spicer seemed ready to bury the hatchet, calling on Ryan for the first question.

“Why thank you, Sean,” Ryan said to laughter.

“How are you today?” Spicer asked.

“I’m fine, and how are you?” she replied.

“Fantastic,” he said.

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