There’s an unmistakable connection between White House press secretary Sean Spicer's use of “phenomenal” and issues that seem to be not going so hot for the White House. | Getty Sean Spicer’s kiss of death: ‘Phenomenal’ The White House press secretary has a curious habit of deploying the adjective.

The health care debacle, the travel ban setback, difficulties with Mexico, a slew of empty positions across the government — all are symptoms or causes of President Donald Trump’s rocky first few weeks in office. They also have another thing in common: White House press secretary Sean Spicer has used the word “phenomenal” to describe them.

To be fair, Spicer has also deployed the term with more auspicious results — including the president’s ability to get his message out, to describe Terry Branstad’s prospects as ambassador to China and to discuss the Governors Ball.


But there’s an unmistakable connection between his use of “phenomenal” and issues that seem to be not going so hot for the White House.

POLITICO took a look at Spicer’s unusual habit with one of his favorite adjectives:

OBAMACARE REPEAL:

Almost everything that could go wrong did, and the Republicans came up empty after seven years of promising repeal of the Affordable Care Act, despite being handed full control of the government by voters. But you wouldn’t have known the GOP’s bill was careening toward disaster from Spicer’s briefings (unless, perhaps, you’d already picked up on his ‘phenomenal’ tick).

“I think Speaker Ryan did a phenomenal job today of really laying this out,” Spicer said of Ryan’s rollout of the health care bill on March 9.

“And as we continue to meet with members and talk to them and get their ideas, I think we're going to have a phenomenal outcome of this bill,” Spicer said of the bill on March 14, as its prospects darkened.

And on March 23, the day before the bill was pulled, Spicer praised the president’s efforts to get it through: “The President has done a phenomenal job, there's no question.”

HOUSE INTELLIGENCE CHAIRMAN NUNES:

There are growing calls for Devin Nunes to recuse himself from the House’s investigation into Russian interference in the election after he briefed the White House on information before alerting his fellow committee members, in what many saw as a move to give Trump political cover for his unsubstantiated wiretapping claim. Things have gotten worse for Nunes since then.

At the March 8 briefing, Spicer noted Nunes’ work on the Russia investigation, saying, “…Chairman Nunes, who has done a phenomenal job of trying to get to the bottom of this.”

TRAVEL BANS:

The administration’s two attempts to institute a travel ban on people coming to the United States from seven — and later six — Muslim majority countries have led to humbling defeats in court.

After the first ban was blocked in court, Spicer touted both the preparation and rollout of the second attempt. It was quickly blocked by federal judges in Hawaii and Maryland before it could be implemented.

On Feb. 21, Spicer praised the preparation of the second ban: “Well, I think we have done a phenomenal job of working with the various departments, particularly DHS and DOJ, State, and through the White House staff, to make sure that we are well within any concerns that the court might have.”

He had similar praise the day it was signed.

“I think today was about the implementation of it, was about having the three departments that are expressly named to implement this to talk about what they’re doing to implement it,” Spicer said at that day’s press briefing. “And I think they did a phenomenal job about it.”

STAFFING AND GOVERNMENT:

Another early stumbling block for the administration has been the unfilled positions across the federal government — a number of vacancies the conservative National Review declared on Tuesday was “astonishing” and “another glaring sign that the young administration is ill-prepared for the duties of governing.”

Of 553 key positions identified by the non-partisan Partnership for Public Service, Trump has named only 61 people, according to the National Review.

Spicer, though, had a different take.

“This has been a very methodical process that has seen from top to bottom through, and I think we're doing a phenomenal job of staffing the government,” he said at the Feb. 22 press briefing.

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U.S.-MEXICO RELATIONS:

The Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto cancelled his first planned visit to meet with Trump and Mexican officials continue to insist the nation will not pay for Trump’s proposed border wall.

But Spicer had a different take.

“I think the relationship with Mexico is phenomenal right now, and I think there's an unbelievable and robust dialogue between our two nations,” Spicer said on Feb. 22.

SUPREME COURT NOMINEE NEIL GORSUCH:

Spicer has been bullish from the beginning on Gorsuch’s prospects of landing on the Supreme Court, and he appears likely to be vindicated. Gorsuch sailed through his confirmation hearings and Republican senators remain happy with the pick. But Democrats appear likely to filibuster the nomination, potentially forcing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to invoke the so-called “nuclear option,” changing the Senate rules with a simple majority.

In what may be an ominous sign for Gorsuch, Spicer has described the announcement, his performance at the hearings and McConnell’s ability to shepherd him through as — you guessed it — “phenomenal.”