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Keller @ Large: Sean Spicer Wasn't Poised Or Articulate

BOSTON (CBS) -  Sean Spicer, we hardly knew ye.

What we did see of Spicer as White House Press Secretary was underwhelming, to say the least.

In a job that puts a premium on being poised and articulate, Spicer was neither, repeatedly losing his cool under the predictable reporter goading, spewing garbled syntax, and asserting that Hitler never used chemical weapons.

I saw Spicer at work in the flesh at the 2012 GOP Convention and thought he was a clumsy hack then; he did nothing in this role to change that perception.

But in fairness to the man, any spokesperson is only as good as the person they're speaking for.

sean spicer
Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

If President Trump was coherent and consistent, Spicer might have evinced those qualities as well.

If Trump had bothered to inform Spicer of his activities and thinking, Spicer might have had better success explaining them.

If Trump valued honesty, Spicer's credibility might not have been shredded at his very first press briefing with those absurd gymnastics about the inauguration crowd.

As we once again learned this week with the President's impromptu, ill-advised decision to usher three New York Times reporters in to hand him rope with which to hang himself, Trump is his own press secretary and communications director.

Anyone else trying to take on the job will surely suffer the same fate as Spicer.

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