White House press secretary Sean Spicer's absence from a press briefing triggered wild speculation he was on the outs with President Donald Trump – despite his deputy's announcement he was at Naval Reserve training.
CNN reported Spicer was "under fire" during a crucial week at the White House.
And The Washington Post ran with a story Spicer was forced to "hide in the bushes" to avoid answering questions about the firing of FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday – though it later corrected the report to say he had "huddled" with his staff near some bushes.
The hosts of "The View," nevertheless stuck with the original Post version, with Joy Behar speculating: "I think he's hiding from Trump."
There was even a theory Spicer hid in the bushes to cover up his two different-colored shoes — a supposition knocked down by an eagle-eyed Washington Examiner reporter.
Even Britain's Daily Mail got into the guessing game with a report he was under fire for his handling of the Comey firing; the left-leaning Salon weighed in with the theory as well.
Politico reported Trump was using Spicer's absence to audition deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders for Spicer's job.
Meanwhile, Twitter had fun speculating about what Spicer's Naval Reserve training would look like.
And with Spicer sightings – replete with photographic evidence of his last tour of duty.
Spicer has been in the Reserve for 20 years and holds the rank of Commander, Independent Journal Review reported; he also has a master's degree from the Naval War College.
Fox News reported when Spicer is on reserve duty, he works for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon.
"In both his day job and reserve duties, Spicer serves at the pleasure of the commander-in-chief," IJR noted.
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