If you’re not an SNL fan or if you are, like me, currently #suffering under a pile of academic and other obligations, you should still check out Melissa McCarthy’s zinger of a SNL sketch from this past Saturday’s episode. It’s one for the books.
In the bit, McCarthy plays White House press secretary Sean Spicer. Y’know, the guy who claimed Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration was the most watched ever? Yeah, that guy. The guy who has been subtly threatening and undermining news media since he assumed the position.
In the clip, McCarthy comes out dressed and made up as Spicer, and begins a tirade against the press corps. “I’d like to begin today by apologizing on behalf of you, to me, for how you have treated me these last two weeks, and that apology is not accepted,” McCarthy says as Spicer.
After ingesting more pieces of gum than should ever be allowed in a person’s mouth, then proceeding to place the chewed up mess directly on the podium, McCarthy proceeds to play on the repetition of falsehoods and attacks on the press that have characterized Spicer’s first few weeks in the position.
But wait—here’s the best part. “More than being lampooned as a press secretary makes up facts, it was Spicer’s portrayal by a woman that was most problematic in the president’s eyes, according to sources close to him,” Politico reports. Honestly, Trump is just so beyond predictable at this point.
Naturally, his biggest concern would be anything that might reveal that Gender Is A Social Construct (calling into question his “machismo” and most of the tactics and rhetoric he used to denigrate Hillary Clinton, any anyone else on earth who identifies as female), rather than the reality that some members of his own staff are, well, very ripe for comedy.
“Trump’s uncharacteristic Twitter silence over the weekend…was seen internally as a sign of how uncomfortable [the sketch] made the White House feel,” Politico reports. Aw. Poor White House!
In interviews with Spicer since the episode aired, he has been reluctant to share his personal feelings about the portrayal or the content of the sketch. “I would much rather have the focus be on the president’s agenda and the success he’s having…It doesn’t really matter what I think,” Spicer said in a phone interview with Politico.
Well, Mr. Spicer, that’s not going to stop everyone else from having a take on it.
Laughcrying at Melissa McCarthy’s Sean Spicer, which makes a nice change from crying at Sean Spicer’s Sean Spicer.
— Jim RESISTerling (@JimSterling) February 5, 2017
Almost 2 million views on the Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer video so far. Twice as many as attended Trump’s puny inaugural ceremony. Sad!
— Frances Langum (@bluegal) February 5, 2017
The only good thing Trump has done is make #SNL great again Melissa McCarthy is Sean Spicer pic.twitter.com/el9zoPhXX2
— RogelioGarcia Lawyer (@LawyerRogelio) February 5, 2017