Watch: Melissa McCarthy’s Epic Sean Spicer Impersonation On Saturday Night Live
Melissa McCarthy blasted White House press secretary Sean Spicer during last night’s Saturday Night Live episode. McCarthy played Spicer as an over-the-top, angry, petulant man with little regard for the press, their questions, or reality itself.
When McCarthy started talking in her Spicer costume, the crowd didn’t seem to realize who she was until a few seconds into the sketch. Once the audience learned Spicer was actually the Ghostbusters star, applause showered McCarthy as she played up her Spicer character.
Press secretary Spicer has had a rough relationship with the media since his first press conference. During his first press conference, Spicer refused to take any questions and delivered falsities that were easily disproved. According to Washington Post, Spicer also accused the media of misreporting the number of people at Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony.
“Inaccurate numbers involving crowd size were also tweeted. No one had numbers, because the National Park Service, which controls the National Mall, does not put any out. By the way, this applies to any attempts to try to count the number of protestors today in the same fashion,” Spicer said, accidentally highlighting the crowd difference between Trump’s inauguration and the Women’s March on Washington protesters that flocked to D.C. the next day.
McCarthy captured Spicer’s contentious nature with the media immediately when she acknowledged that she, as Spicer, had gotten off to a “rocky” start with the press. “When I say ‘rocky’ I mean Rocky the movie because I came out here to punch you…in the face.” McCarthy continues, “And also, I don’t talk so good.”
Spicer is barbed by McCarthy’s impersonation, but The Boss actress doesn’t just attack the press secretary’s interview skills, she also made fun of his quirks. During a Washington Post interview in the summer of 2016, Spicer admitted that he eats two and a half packs of gum before noon. Specifically, Orbitz gum.
Spicer’s odd gum habit is a quirk that prompted Business Insider to ask: Is this bad for Sean Spicer’s health? According to Spicer, his doctor said it was “no problem.” During McCarthy’s performance, she whips out a pack of gum and, in combative Spicer style, says, “I’m here to swallow gum and take names.”
When it comes to press briefings, Spicer has a history of espousing “alternative facts” in accordance with the Trump White House. During Spicer’s second press briefing, he said it was actually his first, willfully ignoring the bungle he made of his first press conference where he refused to take questions. McCarthy amps up that hostility by physically attacking reporters with a podium that Spicer rammed into unprepared journalists.
McCarthy’s interpretation was so real and hilarious because she perfectly exaggerated some things Spicer already does. When he spoke about the crowd sizes at Trump’s inauguration, it was clear he was exaggerating. However, McCarthy took it one step further by describing Trump receiving a “15-minute standing ovation” where “everyone was smiling, everyone was happy, the men all had erections.”
It’s unclear if McCarthy will continue to guest star as Spicer, but if the social media reactions are any indication, audiences will be seeing a lot more of Sean Spicer on Saturday Night Live. The Spicer character is on par with Alec Baldwin’s depiction of Donald Trump, who also made a guest appearance in last night’s episode of Saturday Night Live.
Spicer, like his boss, Trump, is not shy about lashing out at journalists via social media. In the last 24 hours, Spicer has repeatedly tweeted at Josh Rogin, a Washington Post reporter, for delaying a correction to an article about the Trump White House.
As of Sunday morning, neither Spicer nor Trump attacked Saturday Night Live for their comedic depictions, although Trump has a history of ridiculing the sketch comedy show.
[Featured Image by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Images]
