White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer branded Iran a failed stated and declared Russia “an island” as he discussed the Syrian conflict during an interview with Newseum in Washington DC, Wednesday.
Spicer confidently declared,“right now Russia is an island – it’s Russia, Iran, North Korea and Syria and Russia is the only non-failed state” during the live-streamed interview with NBC News anchor, Greta Van Susteren.
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The slight went unnoticed by Van Susteren but Twitter users were quick to highlight that once again Spicer had shown his ignorance of global affairs.
‘Failed state’ is a term used by various political organisations and commentators to describe a state in which the basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government no longer function properly, however the metrics used to determine ‘state failure’ vary.
Social media users also pointed out that Spicer incorrectly stated that the three countries were the only ones which did not support the US position in Syria.
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Spicer told Van Susteren that the US and Russia have a “shared interest not only in defeating ISIS but in stability in the region,” but claimed Russia is “isolating” itself by allying with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
He also said that the US has a shared interest with China in ensuring that “we don’t have a nuclear North Korea.”
Commenting on Trump’s popularity, Spicer described the president as “authentic” and “that is something that has been missing from Washington.” He also played down tensions with the media saying that “as long as we have a healthy and robust media, I’m fine.”
However, Spicer stood by the Trump administration’s decision to skip the White House Correspondents dinner on April 29, which is traditionally attended by the sitting president: “I don’t think we should fake it .. I think they should go have their dinner.. but I don’t think that just sitting there and watching a bunch of celebrities walk by is somehow an indication of how much you respect the press or the first amendment.”
Spicer began the interview by apologizing and asking for “forgiveness” for claiming on Tuesday that Hitler did not use chemical weapons in World War II. “I made a mistake, I got into a topic I shouldn't have and I screwed up,” he said.