--- title: Sean Spicer Discusses Time as White House Press Secretary description: Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is saying he didn't "knowingly" lie while working for the White House as Press Secretary canonical: https://time.com/4951351/sean-spicer-white-house-press-secretary-emmys/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-21T14:42:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:32:09.476Z article:section: Politics og:title: Sean Spicer: I Never 'Knowingly' Lied to the American People og:description: He did admit he's made "mistakes" though og:url: https://time.com/4951351/sean-spicer-white-house-press-secretary-emmys/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e4a81a2de77400e/6988deb3bc6cfc4d243e32cc/gettyimages-848639570.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: sean spicer interview og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sean Spicer: I Never 'Knowingly' Lied to the American People twitter:description: He did admit he's made "mistakes" though twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e4a81a2de77400e/6988deb3bc6cfc4d243e32cc/gettyimages-848639570.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sean Spicer: I Never 'Knowingly' Lied to the American People by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Sep 21, 2017 2:42 PM UTC  Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer speaks onstage during the 69th Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theatre on September 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer speaks onstage during the 69th Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theatre on September 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.Photograph byFrederic J. Brown—AFP/Getty by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Sep 21, 2017 2:42 PM UTC [Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer](http://time.com/4868546/sean-spicer-resigns-anthony-scaramucci-donald-trump/) said Thursday he didn’t “knowingly” lie during his six-month stint working at the White House. Spicer appeared on _Good Morning America_ Thursday morning and was asked if he’s ever lied to the American people. “I’ve not knowingly done anything to do that,” Spicer said. Throughout the contentious interview, Spicer did not apologize for his handling of various issues including Trump’s inauguration crowd size and the reason for former FBI Director James Comey’s firing, though he did say he wished he was more clear in his responses to the press regarding the 2017 inauguration and travel ban. He also said he believed his short time as press secretary was not perfect. “I made mistakes, there’s no question. I think we all do. Some of them I’ve tried to own, very publicly. In some cases, there were things that I did that, until somebody brought it up, I said, ‘Gosh, I didn’t realize that was a mistake. I’m sorry about that,'” Spicer said. > [](https://twitter.com/GMA/status/910832161535680512) [Following his surprise Emmy appearance earlier this week,](http://time.com/4946406/sean-spicer-emmys-comedy/) GMA host Paula Faris asked whether the move was part of his effort to rehabilitate his image, which Spicer adamantly denied. “I feel very good with my image,” he said. “I’m very happy with myself. I am able to go out and explain a lot of things now, but I’m not on a tour. I’m out having some fun.” Spicer refused to discuss any matters regarding the ongoing federal investigation into [Russian meddling in the 2016 election](http://time.com/4895426/robert-mueller-paul-manafort-bank-account-subpoena/), repeatedly saying “I’m not going to discuss that issue at all,” whenever asked about the subject. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4951351/sean-spicer-white-house-press-secretary-emmys/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4951351/sean-spicer-white-house-press-secretary-emmys/"},"headline":"Sean Spicer: I Never 'Knowingly' Lied to the American People","datePublished":"2017-09-21T14:42:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:32:09.476Z","description":"He did admit he's made \"mistakes\" though","url":"https://time.com/4951351/sean-spicer-white-house-press-secretary-emmys/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e4a81a2de77400e/6988deb3bc6cfc4d243e32cc/gettyimages-848639570.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e4a81a2de77400e/6988deb3bc6cfc4d243e32cc/gettyimages-848639570.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"sean spicer interview","caption":"US-ENTERTAINMENT-TELEVISION-EMMYS-SHOW","creditText":"Photograph byFrederic J. 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