Sean Spicer: 'I screwed up' as press secretary

Jessica Estepa | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Sean Spicer says he 'screwed up' while serving in White House Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday that he “screwed up” during his time serving in the Trump administration.

Sean Spicer very bluntly stated Thursday that yes, he was far from a perfect White House press secretary.

So much so that he repeatedly said that he screwed up.

"There were times when I screwed up as press secretary," Spicer said on CNN sister network HLN, responding to a question about whether he'd maintained his credibility. "There's no question about it."

He started ticking off examples: the inauguration, when he falsely claimed that President Trump had the largest inauguration crowd ever. Or that time when he likened Syrian President Bashar Assad to Adolf Hitler.

"I screwed up royally," he said.

Spicer, who served as press secretary from January through July before quitting, described himself as a "self-critical" person, but that he strove to do the best job he could for the president and the American people.

"When I screwed up, yeah, it felt really bad, because you're realizing that you're tarnishing your reputation, your family's reputation, your friends who like you and support you, you know, some of your colleagues, and ultimately, again, this administration and the American people, who I wanted to do my best job, my best for every single day, " he said.

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