Sean Spicer Holds a Perplexing Grudge Against Dippin’ Dots

After scolding the members of the media for their coverage of the Trump inauguration, White House press secretary Sean Spicer quickly wrapped up his first-ever press briefing on Saturday without taking any questions from the crowd. With this surprising move, he was denying the journalists of America the opportunity to ask him about one of Washington’s biggest unsolved mysteries: Why does Spicer hate Dippin’ Dots so darn much? As the A.V. Club notes, the former RNC communications director’s baffling rivalry with the little orbs of ice cream dates back to 2010, when he tweeted this:

Spicer was referencing the retro-Space Age food product’s marketing slogan in his tweet, but he did not elaborate on why he believed that these little pearls of ice cream — a staple at stadiums, amusement parks, and movie theaters — failed to represent the future of dessert. Apropos of nothing, Spicer also reiterated his opinion about the cheerful sweets 17 months later:

And later that fall, he shared a report about Dippin’ Dots filing for bankruptcy:

But the company that produces the frozen pastel pearls managed to stay in business long enough to invoke Spicer’s wrath once more, while he was surveying concession options at Nationals Park in 2015:

To be fair, the shortage of vanilla Dippin’ Dots should be blamed squarely on the people who run the stadium, not the frozen dessert itself. But this tweet further suggests that Dippin’ Dots are some sort of emotional trigger for Spicer. Will he ever reveal the origins of his hatred for these beads of astronaut ice cream? And will the press covering the White House ever figure out how to use their knowledge of his Dippin’ Dots aversion to their advantage? Only time will tell. But here is one possible future scenario, courtesy of Culture Trip’s Chris Mahoney:

UPDATE 1, January 23, 2:40p.m.: The Twitter account of Dippin’ Dots has extended an olive branch to Spicer in the form of an open letter. “We’ve seen your tweets and would like to be friends rather than foes,” it reads in part. “After all, we believe in connecting the dots.” The brand then offers to show up at the White House to feed both staffers and the press corps with an ice cream social.

UPDATE 2, January 23, 11:14 p.m:: Spicer replies to his foe, Dippin’ Dots, with a peaceful pitch for them:

• Trump’s press secretary has been fighting with Dippin’ Dots for 5 years [AV Club]
• @seanspicer [Twitter]
• All Coverage of Dippin’ Dots [E]