Sean Spicer's 5 Worst Moments That Highlighted His Brief, Tumultuous White House Tenure

For better or worse, it's difficult to recall a White House spokesman who commanded as much attention as Sean Spicer, who resigned Friday, according to a New York Times report.

Spicer reportedly left, at least in part, because he strongly disagreed with President Donald Trump's decision to appoint Anthony Scaramucci as communications director.

Serving as Trump's press secretary would likely prove a difficult task for anyone, and Spicer's many missteps, seeming misrepresentations and angry confrontations with the press made for must-watch TV. He was, of course, famously portrayed as an angry bloviator perpetually on the edge of explosion by actress Melissa McCarthy on Saturday Night Live.

But now it's over for Spicer. Here's quick trip down memory lane and a few of his greatest hits from his brief tenure in the White House. (This list is by no means comprehensive, because there are simply too many moments to ever collect in a single post.)

1. An ill-advised Adolf Hitler reference. (Note: If you're a press secretary, in nearly every situation imaginable it's probably ill-advised to bring up Hitler.)

Speaking about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the apparent chemical attack he ordered, Spicer said, "You had someone who was as despicable as Hitler, who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons." Hitler killed millions of people in gas chambers.

2. The lie that launched a million memes.

Spicer began his tenure as press secretary with a blatant untruth—claiming to the press again and again that Trump's inauguration crowd was the biggest ever when it clearly was not. "This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period," Spicer said the day after event. It was the beginning of the internet's love affair with Spicer, as folks rushed to make memes of Spicer claiming other blatant lies were not lies. Even as he resigned Friday, he was not spared a reminder of his first day on the job.

3. The flag pin

When Spicer stood behind the White House lectern on March 10, an American flag pin on his lapel was upside down (otherwise known as a distress signal). Even after a reporter alerted him to that fact, he failed to correct it on his first attempt. The comparisons to the popular Netflix show House of Cards—which uses an upside-down flag as a logo—quickly followed, but Spicer said that neither he nor the nation was in distress.

4. The bushes incident

After Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, sparking a massive controversy, Spicer reportedly retreated to a hiding place in the bushes outside the White House to escape the president. Spicer "[huddled] with his staff near a clump of bushes and then behind a tall hedge" and demanded the office be dark as they figured out a plan, The Washington Post reported. The incident grew even more surreal when the White House demanded it be made clear Spicer was hiding among the bushes but was not in the bushes, as first reported.

5. Defending 'covfefe'

One night the president tweeted something that was almost assuredly a typo, writing just after midnight: "Despite the negative press covfefe." Spicer claimed this was all part of some greater plan.

"No, I think the president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant," he said.