The devastating “Saturday Night Live” caricature of Sean Spicer that aired over the weekend, played by Melissa McCarthy, did not go over well internally at a White House where looks matter. | POLITICO Screen grab
As the press secretary for a president who's obsessed with how things play on cable TV, Sean Spicer’s real audience during his daily televised press briefings has always been an audience of one.
And the devastating “Saturday Night Live” caricature of Spicer that aired over the weekend — in which a belligerent Spicer was spoofed by a gum-chomping, super soaker-wielding Melissa McCarthy in drag — did not go over well internally at a White House in which looks matter.
Story Continued Below
More than being lampooned as a press secretary who 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. And the unflattering send-up by a female comedian was not considered helpful for Spicer’s longevity in the grueling, high-profile job in which he has struggled to strike the right balance between representing an administration that considers the media the "opposition party," and developing a functional relationship with the press.
"Trump doesn't like his people to look weak," added a top Trump donor.
Trump’s uncharacteristic Twitter silence over the weekend about the “Saturday Night Live” sketch was seen internally as a sign of how uncomfortable it made the White House feel. Sources said the caricature of Spicer by McCarthy struck a nerve and was upsetting to the press secretary and to his allies, who immediately saw how damaging it could be in Trump world.
Spicer on Monday was traveling aboard Air Force One from Florida to Washington, D.C., and gamely shrugged off the spoof that was playing in loops on cable news throughout the day.
McCarthy “needs to slow down on the gum chewing; way too many pieces in there,” he joked in an interview with Extra.
And on Monday, Spicer’s allies were trying to put a happy face on the incident. "He takes the job seriously but doesn't take himself that seriously," said a person close to Spicer, who said he also understood the instant-viral skit helped him reach a new level of fame. "He knows that put him up on the stratosphere of recognition on a level," this person said. "You've got to embrace it."
But on Tuesday, Spicer has the uncomfortable task of facing reporters once again in the briefing room — where the elephant in the room will be the unflattering McCarthy caricature.
White House sources said they expect him to cut the tension with humor, and that he has already been on a charm offensive before the "SNL" skit, knowing he has relations to repair with the press.
Spicer has reached out to some reporters, in recent days, simply to wish them a happy birthday. Speaking at a forum at George Washington University last week, Spicer was self-effacing, making fun of his first stumble out of the gate, where even his ill-fitting suit was criticized by the boss. “I looked at my suit choice and made some changes there," he joked.
But Spicer for weeks now has been fighting to repair his troubling first impression behind the lectern — he is still operating under a cloud that he created when he took no questions and made false statements about the crowd size at Trump’s inauguration, losing some of his credibility with the room of reporters he faces off with every day. Internally, people close to Trump are eager to point out that Spicer was also not Trump’s first choice for the high-profile position of press secretary, but that chief of staff Reince Priebus pushed for the former Republican National Committee spokesman to get the job.
Spicer has taken the role seriously; in the final weeks during the transition, he was participating in mock briefing sessions to get ready for his on-camera performances. Since Jan. 20, Spicer has had the added difficulty of doing two jobs at once: He is acting as communications director on top of his job as press secretary, while the administration seeks to fill the former job. Senior White House officials Kellyanne Conway and Hope Hicks still attend the daily briefings and sit on the side to watch him — a move some interpreted as a sign that Spicer still needs supervision.
The “SNL” clip was seen by some in Trump’s orbit as devastating because it was accurate. “I thought they had Sean down pretty good,” said one Trump ally, who thought Spicer has been set up in an impossible position.
In a phone interview on Monday afternoon, Spicer tried to tack away from the skit. "I would much rather have the focus be on the president's agenda and the success he's having,” he said. “That's all I'm saying on it." When pressed about what his own reaction to the skit was, he demurred. “It doesn’t really matter what I think.”