And yet as diplomatic as Spicer was trying to be, the host did get him to admit that he more or less left the White House because he didn’t want to report to Anthony Scaramucci, who only ended up surviving in his role as communications director for 11 days. When Kimmel asked if that arrangement would have been “unacceptable,” Spicer replied, “Correct.”

Later, Kimmel pressed Spicer on what his mother thought of all the “abuse” he received from the media—and late-night comedians like him—during his time at the White House, as well as from Trump himself. “Did she ever say, go in there and tell that son of a bitch Trump to stop making you lie?” he asked.

“My mother would never speak like that,” Spicer replied. “She’d say, ‘I’m praying for you.’”