White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday slammed anti-President Donald Trump protests over the past month as ones made-up of paid protesters from phony grassroots organizations.
In an interview with Brian Kilmeade of Fox News Channel's "Fox and Friends," Spicer tore into demonstrations against the president since he took office on Jan. 20.
The exchange between Kilmeade and Spicer begins at the 2:37-minute mark.
"Do you sense that instead of being an organic disruption, do you sense that there's an organized push-back and people are being paid to protest?" Kilmeade asked.
Spicer replied, "Oh, absolutely. I mean, protesting has become a profession now . . . They have every right to do that, don't get me wrong, but I think that we need to call it what it is. It's not these organic uprisings that we've seen through the last several decades."
"The tea party was a very organic movement," he added. "This has become a very paid, 'astroturf ' type movement."
The Washington Post's Philip Bump, writing about the exchange, argued it's true "there are organizations that are helping to organize protests against Trump," citing as an example progressive groups that helped encourage attendance at a Jan. 21 protest in Washington.
"It is also true that this happened during the tea party movement," Bump wrote, noting Americans for Prosperity and Freedomworks encouraged awareness and turnout for rallies.
According to the Post, there's no evidence any significant portion at recent anti-Trump protests have been paid.
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