Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer made a surprise appearance at the 2017 Emmy Awards, pushing Melissa McCarthy’s famous Saturday Night Live faux podium out from backstage to help Stephen Colbert embellish the evening’s viewership numbers.
Spicey comes back. #Emmys pic.twitter.com/zyoL4zeCFE
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 18, 2017
“This will be the largest audience to witness the Emmys, period — both in person and around the world,” Spicer said, before disappearing as quickly as he popped up, a reference to his first press conference where he valiantly defended President Donald Trump’s contention that his Inauguration audience was the largest in history.
“Melissa McCarthy everybody. Give it up,” Colbert said, jokingly referring to the actress who played Sean Spicer on SNL.
Spicer was clearly poking a little fun at himself — a quick moment of bipartisan humor in what would otherwise be a liberal-dominated night — and the audience loved it, giving Spicer a raucous round of applause for his ten seconds on stage. Certainly it reinforced the “reality show” quality the Trump Administration seems to have embraced, but hey, everyone needs to have a little fun sometimes.
Not everyone was happy to see Sean Spicer out and about, and not cowering in his home, fearful and ashamed of Hollywood leftists. In fact, left-leaning Twitter nearly lost their marbles the moment Sean Spicer appeared from offstage. Calling him a “liar” and branding the joke an attempt at “normalizing” the “criminal” Trump Administration, traumatized leftists melted down across social media.
Journalists were angry.
Power is all about who gets forgiven. Who gets fresh starts.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 18, 2017
Power is all about who gets forgiven. Who gets fresh starts.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 18, 2017
The degree to which Sean Spicer has faced no consequences is a glimpse into the post-Trump future.
— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) September 18, 2017
Sean Spicer lied for MONTHSSSS and now he’s up there on the #Emmys stage. pic.twitter.com/artgntiOH0
— Philip Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 18, 2017
But uninvited actors were even angrier.
.@seanspicer can normalize himself in good fun, but he still passionately advocated against human rights, health care, & American values
— Kal Penn (@kalpenn) September 18, 2017
Steve Bannon got a 60 Minutes feature & Sean Spicer got an #Emmys cameo, but Hillary Clinton needs to “shut up & go away”? Mmkay.
— Sarah Lerner (@SarahLerner) September 18, 2017
Sean Spicer is not allowed to be funny, you guys. He’s not. He shouldn’t be allowed to be in public. He should be in jail. Also probably unemployed. Maybe shunned. Can we put him on his own island? Please don’t laugh at him. He’s not allowed to be funny. Stop normalizing his abuse, don’t you understand?
The good news for Sean Spicer, of course, is that his doppleganger, Melissa McCarthy, at least, enjoyed the bit.