Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer Lashed Out at College Newspaper Over "Sphincter" Typo (Report)

"While those involved claimed that this was a copy joke that went unnoticed, I believe that it was a malicious and intentional attack," wrote Spicer, according to The New York Times, which unearthed the 1993 Connecticut College anecdote.

This weekend, Sean Spicer scolded the media for accurately reporting on the crowd size at Donald Trump's inauguration. Backlash against Spicer and Trump ensued, especially given that Spicer's remarks were made at his first meeting with the press and he didn't allow for questions.

The New York Times unearthed a previous controversy Spicer had with the media, dating back to 1993. In April of that year, Spicer was a student government senator at Connecticut College and the school paper The College Voice printed a column about an amendment he sponsored.

The amendment was "to ensure that an antismoking regulation would not affect existing rules for the creation of smoking and nonsmoking rooms for exams." However, instead of attributing the amendment to Spicer, it was attributed to Sean Sphincter. The publication said it regretted the error and claimed he was "unintentionally misidentified," but Spicer disagreed.

He wrote a letter to the editor about the "misspelling."

"While those involved claimed that this was a copy joke that went unnoticed, I believe that it was a malicious and intentional attack," Spicer reportedly wrote. "For a paper which claims to be run by ‘professional’ standards, I find it a bit sad that this type of reporting is explained as a simple part of production.”