'I screwed that up royally': Sean Spicer reflects on his embattled tenure at the White House

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer admitted that "there were times where I screwed up" during the job.
Spicer appeared to have a difficult time adjusting to his role in the early days of President Donald Trump's administration, according to a bombshell new book on the inner workings of the White House.

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer admitted there was "no question" that he made mistakes during his tenure behind the White House's press-room podium.

"There were times where I screwed up," Spicer said during a Thursday interview with S.E. Cupp on HLN. "There's no question about it."

Spicer discussed the controversial remarks he made during a press conference in April, where he appeared to suggest that Syrian President Bashar Assad — who is widely believed to have used chemical weapons against his own people — was far worse than Adolf Hitler during World War II, who, according to Spicer, "didn't even sink to using chemical weapons."

"I screwed that up royally," Spicer said of his exchange with reporters.

"I'm a very self-critical person, and I sat back and said, 'You know, it's not my credibility,'" Spicer continued. "I honestly went out every day to do the best job I could for the President of the United States, who gave me an unbelievable honor."

Spicer continued to express remorse for certain days on the job, which included the infamous rhetorical rumbles with reporters during the daily White House press briefings.

"So when I screwed up, yeah, it felt really bad," Spicer said. "Because you're realizing that you're tarnishing your personal reputation, your family's reputation, your friends who like you and support you ... and ultimately, again, this administration and the American people who I wanted to do my best job, my best for every single day."

Spicer's often-heated debates with White House reporters became something of cultural phenomenon, and were frequently mocked on television as an embattled Trump administration faced criticism over its various policies and its sometimes-false claims.

"You can't make this s--t up," Spicer reportedly said to himself after one of the first press briefings, according to columnist Michael Wolff, who contributed a column to The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the release of his new book, " target="_blank"Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House."

Spicer resigned from his post in July, after about seven months on the job. Spicer reportedly expressed his disagreement with President Donald Trump's decision to appoint New York financier Anthony Scaramucci as communications director, a position Spicer would have to report to.

Following Spicer's departure, Scaramucci was fired after 10 days in the West Wing.

Spicer has since been working on "The Briefing," a book he wrote about his time at the White House, and also became a visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.