It was a Tuesday night in May 2017. The air in D.C. was thick with the kind of political humidity that usually signals a looming disaster. Then, it happened. Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, and the West Wing basically imploded.
While the world was reeling from the news, a group of reporters was huddled outside the White House, desperate for a statement. What they found instead became one of the most enduring, bizarre memes of the decade. They found Sean Spicer in a bush. Or, if you want to be pedantic about it—and the White House definitely did—he was "among" the bushes.
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Honestly, the image of a high-ranking government official hiding in the shrubbery to avoid the press is so absurd it sounds like a deleted scene from Veep. But for a few frantic minutes in the dark, it was very real.
The Night the Hedge Became a Landmark
Let’s set the scene because the details matter. May 9, 2017. The Comey firing was a total blindside. Reporters were practically sprinting toward the West Wing. Sean Spicer, the Press Secretary who had already become a household name thanks to Melissa McCarthy’s SNL impressions, had just finished an interview with Fox Business.
Instead of walking back to his office where a "swarm" of journalists waited, Spicer and his staff retreated. They didn't just walk away; they moved into the shadows near a tall hedge.
In vs. Among: The Correction of the Century
The Washington Post was the first to break the story. Their original report claimed Spicer was "hidden in the bushes." It painted a picture of a man physically inside the foliage, peering out like a nervous garden gnome.
The pushback from the White House was almost as funny as the incident itself. They insisted on a correction. They didn't deny he was there; they just took issue with the preposition.
The Infamous Editor’s Note: "This story has been updated to more precisely describe White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s location... Spicer huddled with his staff among bushes near television sets on the White House grounds, not 'in the bushes,' as the story originally stated."
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It’s a classic D.C. move. Focus on the semantics to ignore the fact that the Press Secretary is literally using landscaping as a tactical shield.
Why Was Sean Spicer in a Bush Anyway?
You’ve got to wonder what the game plan was. According to accounts from that night, Spicer spent several minutes in the darkness with his executive assistant, Janet Montesi, and other staffers. They were trying to figure out a communication strategy for a move they clearly hadn't prepared for.
When he finally emerged, he didn't exactly project confidence. He told reporters he would answer questions, but only if they turned their camera lights off.
"Just turn the lights off," he reportedly said. "Turn the lights off."
It was a surreal moment. One of the most powerful spokespeople in the world was standing in the dark, surrounded by leaves, demanding that the media stop filming him so he could explain why the head of the FBI was suddenly out of a job.
The Meme That Wouldn't Die
The internet didn't just run with this; it did a full marathon. Within hours, the "Homer Simpson retreating into the hedge" GIF was everywhere. It was the perfect visual metaphor for the Trump administration's relationship with the press at the time.
People started making "Garden Spicer" lawn ornaments. A woman in Victoria, B.C., even went viral for creating a cutout of Spicer’s face that people could tuck into their own hedges. It hit a chord because it was relatable in the worst way. We've all had those days at work where we just want to crawl into a hole—or a boxwood—and stay there until the emails stop.
The Long-Term Fallout
Spicer eventually left the White House in July 2017, but the bush followed him. Even when he appeared on Dancing with the Stars years later, the jokes persisted. He tried to reclaim the narrative in his memoir, The Briefing, and in interviews with Rolling Stone.
His side of the story? He claims he was just standing in a spot where all the media do their "live hits" and that he was no closer to a bush than any reporter was.
"There is literally video and pictures of me standing in the middle of the White House driveway," he told Rolling Stone in 2018. He called the "hiding in bushes" story the one that stuck out most as being reported incorrectly.
But in politics, perception is reality. And the perception of Sean Spicer in a bush was far more powerful than any driveway-based defense. It symbolized a White House caught off guard, physically retreating from the very people they were supposed to be briefing.
What This Teaches Us About Crisis PR
If you're ever in a position where you have to manage a massive scandal, don't go near the plants. Seriously.
- Optics are everything. Even if you're just standing "among" bushes to have a private conversation, to a photographer, you're hiding.
- The correction can be worse than the error. By forcing the Washington Post to change "in" to "among," the White House kept the story alive for another week and made it even more of a joke.
- You can't hide from a swarm. If you're the Press Secretary, your job is to be the face of the news. The moment you step into the shadows, you've lost the lead.
To truly understand the Spicer era, you have to look past the podium and into the greenery. It wasn't just a funny moment; it was the definitive image of a specific brand of political chaos.
If you're looking to dive deeper into the archives of 2017 political theater, your best bet is to look up the original Washington Post "Among the Bushes" correction. It’s a masterclass in how a single word can change the tone of a news cycle. Also, checking out the old SNL clips from that weekend—the one where Melissa McCarthy's Spicer drives a motorized podium through the streets of New York—shows just how much this single moment of "shrubbery huddling" defined his public legacy.