Trump's biggest trigger was 'any comparison to Obama' being better: new book

Stephanie Grisham's new book, I'll Take Your Questions Now, begins with the first days of the Trump administration as Sean Spicer stepped to the podium and lied to the press for the first time when he claimed the inauguration size was larger than in 2008 and 2012.

She recalled being excited and proud, innocently waiting for Spicer's first briefing but as the time approached for Spicer to step out to the podium he was still with the president. That's when Grisham knew something was probably wrong.

"The president was already angry about press reports saying that his crowd size at the inauguration was smaller than Obama's," she wrote. "By that time I had been around long enough to know some of what triggered the president, and any unfavorable comparison to Obama, especially a suggestion that Trump was less popular, was at the top of the trigger list. I couldn't help but feel nervous for Sean. He was in a no-win position because there were no magic words to persuade people that Donald Trump's crowd was bigger than Obama's."

She explained that Spicer's credibility was destroyed after that moment, "and there was nothing he could do about it because he had said what the president told him to, and that was how he saw his job." She said that the press secretary was there serving the president, not the people and "Trump was not pleased."

"Forcing Sean to claim that the inauguration crowd was bigger than Obama's, which I imagine Sean also knew was bullsh*t, was a test. Trump always wanted to see how far you would go to do his bidding; it was his way of measuring your loyalty," she wrote.

The new book is on sale today and you can read more of RawStory's coverage of it here.