White House press secretary Sean Spicer got into a heated exchange with reporters at Tuesday's press briefing over President Donald Trump's Monday tweet calling his executive order that temporarily barred travel for people from seven Muslim-majority nations a "ban."
Early in the briefing, Spicer said referring to the order as a travel ban was incorrect and a falsehood about the statute that was being perpetuated by the news media.
NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker pointed out to Spicer that a Monday tweet from Trump had referred to the order as a "ban."
"So he says it's a ban," Welker said.
"He's using the words that the media is using," Spicer responded, beginning another sentence when a reporter in the room fired back, "It's his words!"
Spicer said the order "can't be a ban" if people are still being allowed into the country.
"It is extreme vetting," he said.
Welker kept at it.
"The president himself called it a ban," she said.
"I understand," Spicer replied.
Welker then asked: "Is he confused or are you confused?"
Spicer insisted he was not.
"No, I'm not confused," he said. "I think that the words being used to describe it are derived from what the media is calling this. ... [Trump] has been very clear that it is extreme vetting."
He also fired back, claiming that Welker and NBC News "have been part of the confusion," and criticized the news network for referencing a New York Times report that Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly had not been properly consulted prior to the executive order being signed Friday.
"It was accurate," Times reporter Glenn Thrush shouted out.
"How can it be accurate reporting, Glenn?" Spicer asked, pointing to Kelly's Tuesday press conference where the Homeland Security secretary pushed back on the report.
"You're calling him a liar?" Spicer asked.
"I'm not calling him a liar," Thrush responded.
The executive order bars for 90 days people from Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, and Libya — all countries identified by former President Barack Obama's administration as terror hotspots — from entering the US. It also bars all refugees for 120 days, and bars Syrian refugees indefinitely.
The order was interpreted to include barring those who are legal permanent residents in the US, known as green-card holders. It led to widespread confusion at major airports over the weekend and legal permanent residents being detained. On Sunday, Kelly ordered green-card holders from the countries to be allowed into the US.
Federal judges in four states issued a temporary stay on Saturday preventing authorities from deporting travelers who were stuck in airports because of the order, but the long-term legality of the measure remains unclear.
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