White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer tossed out a joke to mock the press for asking so many questions about alleged collusion between the Trump administration and the Russians. He made the joke during Monday's White House press conference.
The contentious interaction with April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks was heightened when Spicer interrupted her question to make fun of the media's focus on Russia.
"With all these investigations, questions of what is is, how does this administration try to revamp its image? Two and a half months in you got this Yates story today, you got other things going on, you got Russia, you got wiretapping..."
"No we don't have that," Spicer interrupted. "I've said it from the day that i got here until whatever, that there's no connection. You've got Russia."
"If the president puts Russian salad dressing on his salad tonight, somehow that’s a Russian connection!" he added, to a silent room.
Ryan tried to respond, he kept speaking over her, saying, "But every single person, well no, I appreciate your agenda here, but the reality is, no no no, hold on, at some point, report the facts."
Democrats and other opponents of President Trump have been haranguing the administration about questions arising from his allies and aides having interactions with Russian authorities. One led to an embarrassing resignation from Mike Flynn, who admitted lying to the vice president about his communication with a Russian ambassador.
Sean Spicer to the press: “If the president puts Russian salad dressing on his salad tonight, somehow that’s a Russian connection..." pic.twitter.com/GJj7Q6JcVo
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) March 28, 2017
Many on social media were aghast at the audacity of the joke.
"If the president puts Russian dressing on his salad", wow Sean. Way to trivialize our national security threat. #Spicer #PressBriefing #cnn— Ann-Marie Poli (@Ann-Marie Poli) 1490722405.0
April Ryan's "the FBI investigation of a sitting Pres. isn't about his fave salad dressing, you fool" head shake really upset Spicer, huh?— Kara E (@Kara E) 1490726260.0
Spicer: "If Donald had Russian dressing on his salad, you'd find a connection." Nobody has laid on bullsh*t dressing that thick...— Craig Rozniecki (@Craig Rozniecki) 1490722450.0
Sean Spicer: "If trump puts Russian salad dressing on his salad tonight somehow that’s a Russian connection" Me: A salad isn't Treason.— Ricky Davila (@Ricky Davila) 1490722392.0
"If the president puts Russian salad dressing on his salad tonight, somehow that's a Russian connection." -Sean Spicer. Actually said this.— Caroline Orr (@Caroline Orr) 1490722497.0
Will give $5 to a crowdfunding campaign dedicated to delivering 10,000 bottles of Russian salad dressing to Spicer'… https://t.co/ktWPnWJ155— Lily Herman (@Lily Herman) 1490722572.0
No Spicer You have Russia THE FBI IS INVESTIGATING so clearly this is more than salad dressing… https://t.co/lcaLmj6O3g— WeThePeople🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@WeThePeople🇺🇸🇺🇸) 1490728503.0
Spicer said if Trump puts Russian salad dressing on his salad, somehow that’s a Russian connection...as if Trump has ever eaten a salad— Chelsea Handler (@Chelsea Handler) 1490734517.0
U.S. intelligence agencies have acknowledged that they are investigating possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Russians, but President Trump has completely denied the allegations as fantasies conjured up by the media and the "deep state" intending to derail his presidency.
[graphiq id="jhbfTXBQrFX" title="Poll: Investigating Contact Between Russia and Trump" width="600" height="621" url="https://w.graphiq.com/w/jhbfTXBQrFX" ]
Trump also demanded to know Monday why the House Intelligence Committee wasn't investigating Hillary Clinton's ties to the Russians in defense of his administration.