Spicer had a testy exchange with a Breitbart reporter over the definition of a wall – an issue arising from US President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to build a wall along the country’s border with Mexico.
After a failed attempt to secure funding for the structure in a recent congressional budget deal, the White House moved to highlight $341.2 million which it said had been allocated to upgrade 64km of border fencing.
“We have a porous border right now, with broken fences, things that can be cut through, places that can just literally be driven over,” Mr Spicer said.
“Instead of having a chain like fence, we’re able to replace it with that bollard wall,” he said.
But Mr Spicer’s statement drew skepticism from a Breitbart News correspondent, who zeroed in on images the press secretary had displayed of a ‘bollard wall’.
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A day earlier the outlet had argued with a White House press officer who reportedly tried to sell them on the idea that the structure was a ‘wall’.
“Just one question about the photos,” said Charlie Spiering, a White House Correspondent for the controversial right-wing media outlet, “are those photos of fences or walls?”
“That is called a bollard wall, that is called a levee wall,” Mr Spicer responded.
“So that’s the wall that Donald Trump promised?” Mr Spiering asked.
“There are various types of walls that can be built, under the legislation that was just passed, it allows us to do that,” Mr Spicer said, going on to repeat the names of each wall.
“So that’s not a wall it’s a levee wall?” Mr Spiering asked, which Spicer replied “that’s what it’s actually called, that’s the name of it."
The new structures were a significant upgrade from the shorter chain-link fencing which had previously existed, Spicer said.
“It’s not the wall the president promised?” another reporter asked.
“So you’re basically just telling the president’s supporters to be satisfied with this existing tough guy fencing until he’s ready to build the wall?” Mr Spiering asked.
Mr Spicer responded that the budget measure should be seen as a “down-payment” on the wall the president promised.
“What I’m telling everybody is that the president said he was going to build a wall and he’s going to build it,” he said.
Mr Trump ran for the presidency on platform stricter deportations, entry restrictions and the construction of a border wall with Mexico, but congressional Republicans have balked at the structure’s expected cost.
Estimates for the construction of a range from $12 to 21 billion US.
Some parts of the as yet unfunded ‘wall’ are expected to be fencing or natural barriers.
