Sean Spicer Steals Mini-Fridge

Submission 8,712

Part of a series on Sean Spicer. [View Related Entries]

About

Sean Spicer Steals Mini-Fridge refers to a series of online jokes and photoshops based on an anecdote in that appeared in the newspaper the Wall Street Journal. The Journal article alleges that White House press secretary Sean Spicer stole a mini-fridge from the White House less than a month into his job.

Origin

On July 21st, 2017, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "Sean Spicer Faced Myriad Obstacles During Dramatic White House Rise and Fall." The story, which outlined some of the issues Spicer faced as the White House press secretary, opened with an anecdote about how Spicer stole a mini-fridge from work during his first month.^[1]

Less than a month into his new job, White House press secretary Sean Spicer needed to keep his food and drink cold. He wanted a mini-fridge.

He dispatched a top aide to a nearby executive office building where junior research employees are crammed into a room, surviving on Lean Cuisine frozen lunches. Mr. Spicer wants your icebox, the aide said, according to people familiar with the incident. They refused to give it up.

So Mr. Spicer waited until sundown--after his young staffers had left--to take matters into his own hands. He was spotted by a fellow White House official lugging the icebox down the White House driveway after 8 p.m.

Spread

Shortly after the story broke, people on Twitter began making jokes about Spicer stealing the fridge (examples below_. Several news outlets covered the jokes including Teen Vogue,^[2] Mashable,^[3] Bustle,^[4] BuzzFeed^[5] and more. When Redditor TragicDonut^[7] shared on the subreddit /r/nottheonion, the story received more than 34,000 points (83% upvoted) and 1,000 comments.

That day, Twitter user @Darth posted an image of a refrigerator with the words "PROPERTY OF WHY RESEARCH STAFF" written on the side of it behind bushes.^[6] The post (shown below, left) received more than 200 retweets and 1,100 likes. @darth also posted a photoshop of Sean Spicer hiding behind bushes next to a mini-fridge with the caption "'can i help u sir' 'no thank u i am just waiting for my uber.'" The post (shown below, center) received more than 600 retweets and 2,400 likes.^[8] The tweets referenced an incident in May 2017, when reporters caught Sean Spicer in the White House bushes.

Additionally, Mashable shared a photoshop of Sean Spicer holding a mini-fridge.^[3] The picture and accompanying article has been shared more than 2,500 times.