A visual approximation of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday night, among the bushes (Meme’d by an unknown memer)

After the news on Tuesday that Donald Trump had fired FBI Director James Comey, one of the most surreal moments featured White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer hiding in the bushes to stay away from the press. But Spicer clearly wasn’t happy with that description.




To be clear, Spicer was merely among the bushes. Not in. Among. Bush adjacent. In the approximate vicinity of shrubbery.



White House press secretary Sean Spicer emerges from “among” the bushes to talk with reporters and insists that the cameras and lights be turned off on May 9, 2017 (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)


The Washington Post reported on the bizarre scene where Spicer was trying to avoid speaking to the press on Tuesday night:



After Spicer spent several minutes hidden in the bushes behind these sets, Janet Montesi, an executive assistant in the press office, emerged and told reporters that Spicer would answer some questions, as long as he was not filmed doing so. Spicer then emerged. “Just turn the lights off. Turn the lights off,” he ordered. “We’ll take care of this... Can you just turn that light off?” Spicer got his wish and was soon standing in near darkness between two tall hedges, with more than a dozen reporters closely gathered around him. For 10 minutes, he responded to a flurry of questions, vacillating between light-hearted asides and clear frustration with getting the same questions over and over again.

The story became an instant meme:


But late last night the Washington Post added an editor’s note:

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to more precisely describe White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s location late Tuesday night in the minutes before he briefed reporters. Spicer huddled with his staff among bushes near television sets on the White House grounds, not “in the bushes,” as the story originally stated.


The story was changed from “hidden in the bushes” to “hidden in the darkness and among the bushes”:

After Spicer spent several minutes hidden in the darkness and among the bushes near these sets, Janet Montesi, an executive assistant in the press office, emerged and told reporters that Spicer would answer some questions, as long as he was not filmed doing so. Spicer then emerged.


Thank God we got that squared away. Now we can get back to talking about things like the greatest American constitutional crisis of the past century.

Spicer, it should be noted, has been replaced by Sarah Sanders Huckabee this week in what many are speculating could be a permanent move. Spicer is reportedly fulfilling his US Naval Reserve duty this week. We’ll see next week if he still has a job at the White House or if he’ll be tossed among the bushes.


Update, 8:38am: Thank you, internet.