Sean Spicer on NBC’s Ali Vitali: We Have a Free Press; They Can Ask Anything They Want

EXCERPT:

SPICER: "Look, we live in a free country. We have a free press. They can ask anything they want. It’s not a question of whether it’s appropriate. It’s a question whether it’s topical. You are in South Korea. The President is on a five country tour throughout Asia. When you have major issues in terms of economic security, you’ve got the Indo-Pacific region, the freedom of the Indo-Pacific region, you have issues pertaining to China. And clearly there in South Korea the number one issue is North Korea and the threat it poses not just to South Korea and to the United States but frankly the entire world. And then you can get off topic and say, 'Okay, with respect to this horrendous tragedy,' which it truly is, the idea that so many folks are dead in such a place of worship is truly a sick tragedy and our thoughts and prayers go out to those individuals, but the reality is, and I know you guys are going to have folks talking about this today, is the vetting system did identify this individual but the system failed us. And so the idea that a reporter would talk about it, I understand the question about 'Do you think the system broke down along the way?' which I think we are finding out more and more it did, but the reality is the vetting system did work."