Latest news with #Spicer
Sky News AU
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘He summoned a mob': Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer reveals events he says sparked Los Angeles rioters
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer has outlined what he says really kicked off protests in Los Angeles that has caused havoc on the city's streets in recent days. The National Guard has been deployed to LA amid chaotic scenes after tensions over the Trump administration's controversial crackdown on illegal immigrants erupted over the weekend. Speaking with Sky News host Andrew Bolt on Tuesday, Mr Spicer broke down the events that caused the riots to break out after he was asked about what led to the protests. According to Mr Spicer, the protests were really sparked when a Democrat California State Assembly member on Saturday saw US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents driving trucks and arriving at an LA facility where they worked. 'And so he started to livestream it, and said to folks, 'come gather in this paramount section of California' that he represents because 'something's got to be happening',' the former White House press secretary explained. Mr Spicer said hundreds of people then descended on the area to observe the federal agent's activity at the facility. 'That's what started this. He gathered people because he said it looks suspicious,' he said. ICE trucks were then pelted with rocks and multiple cars were burned after gates to the facility were opened, Mr Spicer added. 'So to be clear, when people talk about the issue escalating, these individuals literally went to work. They went into their office and got into their cars and that's what precipitated all of this,' he said. 'There was no action, there was no raid, there was not roundup. They literally went into the office and a Democratic assemblyman from California got people all fired up because he assumed because it was a Saturday, something must be going on. 'He summoned a mob and the unleashed them, and then they threw rocks and lit cars on fire." US President Donald Trump on Monday ordered for 2,000 California National Guard troops to be deployed to the LA, declaring in a post on his social media platform Truth Social that the city had been 'invaded and occupied by Illegal Aliens and Criminals'. 'Violent, insurrectionist mobs are swarming and attacking our Federal Agents to try and stop our deportation operations — But these lawless riots only strengthen our resolve,' the president stated. Mr Spicer, who served as White House press secretary under Trump in 2017, pointed to the fact the protests were targeted at US federal agents. 'Donald Trump doesn't just have a responsibility. In fact, he has an obligation to protect federal agents and federal property,' Mr Spicer said.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sean Spicer Predicts Karine Jean-Pierre Is Still ‘Team Biden' and New Book Will ‘Stick a Knife' in White House Colleagues
Sean Spicer, former press secretary to Donald Trump, reacted with skepticism on Wednesday about Karine Jean-Pierre's announcement that she is leaving the Democratic Party, considering it appears her upcoming book about Biden's last days in the White House will side with the former president. 'It sure sounds like she's going to stick a knife in the people who pushed Biden out,' Spicer said on a new episode of 'The Megyn Kelly Show.' 'It sounds like she's still Team Biden, and we'll get a bunch of nonsense about how he could have [won the 2024 election].' Spicer cited publisher Hachette's press release that 'Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines,' is about the 'betrayal' of Democratic Party leaders who convinced Biden to step down from the 2024 race and back Vice President Kamala Harris instead. Watch the full segment below: Kelly added, 'Color me curious about her insider details — less interested in her definition of what it means to be independent.' The one self-identified Democrat on Wednesday's 'Megyn Kelly' panel, Dan Turrentine, who co-hosts 'Morning Meeting' with Spicer on the 2Way platform, echoed Kelly's thoughts. 'I'll be curious about her angle,' Turrentine said. 'She had real tension with people inside the White House who didn't think she was qualified. There were concerns she struggled to respond without reading from the briefing book.' Spicer, who served as Trump's press secretary for only a few months in 2017 before going on to 'Dancing With the Stars,' argued that, 'Jean-Pierre was the most epically unqualified person to hold that position.' He added, 'No one in America wants her political analysis.' Jean-Pierre's book follows CNN anchor Jake Tapper's 'Original Sin,' about the alleged cover-up over Biden's cognitive decline. Spicer quipped, 'The pitch was probably: 'If Jake Tapper can sell a book, why can't I be independent? 'Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines,' is scheduled to be released in October. The post Sean Spicer Predicts Karine Jean-Pierre Is Still 'Team Biden' and New Book Will 'Stick a Knife' in White House Colleagues | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sean Spicer Predicts Karine Jean-Pierre Is Still ‘Team Biden' and New Book Will ‘Stick a Knife' in White House Colleagues
Sean Spicer, former press secretary to Donald Trump, reacted with skepticism on Wednesday about Karine Jean-Pierre's announcement that she is leaving the Democratic Party, considering it appears her upcoming book about Biden's last days in the White House will side with the former president. 'It sure sounds like she's going to stick a knife in the people who pushed Biden out,' Spicer said on a new episode of 'The Megyn Kelly Show.' 'It sounds like she's still Team Biden, and we'll get a bunch of nonsense about how he could have [won the 2024 election].' Spicer cited publisher Hachette's press release that 'Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines,' is about the 'betrayal' of Democratic Party leaders who convinced Biden to step down from the 2024 race and back Vice President Kamala Harris instead. Watch the full segment below: Kelly added, 'Color me curious about her insider details — less interested in her definition of what it means to be independent.' The one self-identified Democrat on Wednesday's 'Megyn Kelly' panel, Dan Turrentine, who co-hosts 'Morning Meeting' with Spicer on the 2Way platform, echoed Kelly's thoughts. 'I'll be curious about her angle,' Turrentine said. 'She had real tension with people inside the White House who didn't think she was qualified. There were concerns she struggled to respond without reading from the briefing book.' Spicer, who served as Trump's press secretary for only a few months in 2017 before going on to 'Dancing With the Stars,' argued that, 'Jean-Pierre was the most epically unqualified person to hold that position.' He added, 'No one in America wants her political analysis.' Jean-Pierre's book follows CNN anchor Jake Tapper's 'Original Sin,' about the alleged cover-up over Biden's cognitive decline. Spicer quipped, 'The pitch was probably: 'If Jake Tapper can sell a book, why can't I be independent? 'Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines,' is scheduled to be released in October. The post Sean Spicer Predicts Karine Jean-Pierre Is Still 'Team Biden' and New Book Will 'Stick a Knife' in White House Colleagues | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kandiyohi County Board to meet newest K-9 officer June 3
Jun. 1---- The is expected to have a visit Tuesday from the newest K-9 officer in the Sheriff's Office. Loki and handler Sgt. Nick Ardoff are slated to visit at the beginning of the 9 a.m. meeting, according to the posted agenda for June 3. The board is also expected to act on a sewer and water improvement agreement for a planned community called The Nest, located on the southeast side of Nest Lake along North Shore Drive in Spicer in the vicinity of Hope Presbyterian Church. The developer is Ryan A. Koosman of RAK Construction LLC. According to the accompanying materials posted with the board agenda, the development will have 17 units and a clubhouse. Upon completion, the infrastructure will be turned over to Glacial Lakes Sanitary Sewer and Water District. A presentation about the Kandiyohi County 4-H Program from University of Minnesota Extension staff is also on Tuesday's agenda. The board at approximately 10:15 a.m. Tuesday will consider going into a closed session to discuss a property located at 14998 Highway 71 N.E, New London. Tax records show it to be a residence, vacant land and native prairie. The Open Meeting Law allows a closed session to develop or consider offers or counteroffers for the purchase or sale of property. Any board action must be completed in open session. Under calendar matters, the board will consider moving the June 17 meeting to 4 p.m., instead of the regular 9 a.m. start time, and moving the July 15 meeting to July 17 instead due to a conflict with two commissioners attending a conference on July 15. The complete meeting agenda and accompanying materials can be viewed online at
RTÉ News
30-05-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
Young people want TikTok held accountable for harmful 'SkinnyTok' trend
The European Commission and Coimisiún na Meán have said they are aware of the issues linked to the trend known as 'SkinnyTok', the social media hashtag which promotes often dangerous advice to make people as thin as possible. European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said the protection of minors online was a "top priority". "Risks linked to TikTok's algorithms are part of the investigation opened against TikTok in February 2024. "Specifically, we are investigating TikTok's mitigation measures in relation to harmful algorithmic recommendation, including in relation to eating disorders," he said. Head of Advocacy and Young Engagement at UNICEF Ireland Aibhlín O'Leary said that she frequently hears about SkinnyTok from teenagers, as part of the workshops she conducts in schools. "Digital harm and online spaces come up a lot in our conversations," she said. "It's primarily girls that talk about the impact of this trend, particularly on their self-esteem and the pressure to achieve this perfect, very skinny body, and the messages that they're receiving from influencers and content producers on platforms like TikTok." As part of the UNICEF workshops, teens are asked what they would like to see change in relation to the issues that impact them. In relation to SkinnyTok, Ms O'Leary said: "The greatest demands from young people are to do with companies like TikTok and Meta that are facilitating these platforms. "We hear a lot of young people saying, these organisations like TikTok should be more accountable, that they should remove this content, they should put up warnings to let people know that this might be harmful, or it might even be related to an eating disorder". In a statement to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, TikTok said it has "strict rules" against dangerous weight loss behaviours on its platform, and the app offers several wellbeing resources, ways to connect with experts. It added that for teenage viewers, some content with harmful body ideals is age restricted. Ms O'Leary said that the teenagers were able to distinguish between videos that promoted a healthy lifestyle and what they called 'SkinnyTok'. "SkinnyTok is where it moves into suggestions like 'Summer is coming, so I better not eat'. That's where the toxic element of it really comes in." TikTok account holder Valerie Spicer, who is based in the US, posts SkinnyTok content under the username housebunnygymrat. "I share my journey and lessons learned through weight loss, binge eating, recovery and strengthening my self-concept," Ms Spicer said. In many of Ms Spicer's videos she precedes her advice with the word "credentials" and points to a photograph of her past self in a larger body. Ms Spicer explained that the reason she does that is to be "honest and accountable" with herself. She added that she uses words such as a 'fat' and 'skinny' as a way of "taking control back from some of those words that can be a little bit polarising". Speaking from her home in Dallas, Texas, about the kind of videos she posts to TikTok, Ms Spicer said she receives far more positive feedback than negative. "While I've used the SkinnyTok hashtag and that verbiage because it's a popular topic, I'm still aware that topics like that do require nuance. "So, I do try to balance sharing a subjective experience with an objective perspective. "I'm not here to hurt anyone's feelings. I definitely do take that feedback into consideration. "I figure out how I could reword something if it's truly, you know, causing more harm than good," she said. As well as mental health, physical health can also be influenced by content on SkinnyTok. "Every person who comes to see me will admit that they have at some stage seen something online and they're not too sure if what they've seen is true or not," said dietitian Michaela Carrick. Ms Carrick also makes TikTok videos under the username michaelanutrition responding to the incorrect health information seen under 'SkinnyTok' and similar hashtags. "You can tell from a lot of their content [on #skinnytok] that [the TikTokers] are talking from personal experience, so it's not based on scientific research or any evidence. "It's just 'This worked for me and look at all these amazing results that I've gotten, you should do the same thing if you want to be like me'." Ms Carrick said that no healthcare professional would give advice to a patient or client based on their personal experience. She added that content that gives personal advice for weight loss may be meant well, but could potentially cause harm if seen by a vulnerable person. "A lot of this advice that we see online is acting as if everyone needs to eat exactly the same way, but everyone's going to have completely different needs, Ms Carrick said. "And then you add the complexity of people being young, developing, being quite impressionable and potentially having more issues with their body image or their relationship with food, while everything is changing. "So definitely you shouldn't be using this advice that people are sharing". Ms O'Leary of UNICEF acknowledged that the potentially harmful messages seen on the SkinnyTok hashtag have been around for a long time, including on other social media platforms. "The content or the message isn't something that's particularly new, what may be different in TikTok is how powerful the algorithm appears to be. "Young people are saying once you watch one of these videos, you're just hooked into this spiral of them, and you just see and more and more of this content. "We definitely hear people saying that their mental health has suffered, that their self-esteem has gone down, that they're comparing themselves to other girls online to women online whose body looks nothing like theirs". Coimisiún na Meán is assisting the European Commission with its investigation into TikTok. In a statement, Coimisiún na Meán said that is recognises the potential harm for children caused by leading them down 'rabbit holes' through recommender systems used by platforms.
