WARNING: Some of the jokes in the scene above easily qualify as adult humor, and may not be appropriate for younger readers.
Saturday Night Live has been relentless in taking on Donald Trump since he started running for president. As various members of his team have made their way into the headlines, SNL has been unsparing with them, as well.
Kate McKinnon has developed an alter-ego for Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway — which has kept McKinnon front and center after her finely-tuned impersonation of Hillary Clinton lost its necessity.
Steve Bannon, Trump's chief strategist who was the editor of Breitbart News and represents a boogeyman for liberals, is portrayed literally as the grim reaper.
Last night, it was Sean Spicer's turn. After two weeks of verbal fisticuffs in which he scolded and demeaned reporters, with some of his own bumps along the way, the new White House Press Secretary got the SNL treatment last night, played by a surprise guest — actress Melissa McCarthy.
As seen in the video, she donned a blond, short-cropped wig and an ill-fitting suit, just like Spicer was mocked for the day after the inauguration. That was the day he came into the briefing room, with what would come to be known as "alternative facts," to scold reporters for accurately reporting on inauguration crowds — reporting that the president couldn't resist challenging at every turn for days.
The impression went on from there.
McCarthy seemed to channel a sort of transgressed high school coach, telling reporters, "I'd like to begin today by apologizing on behalf of you to me for how you have treated me these last two weeks."
There were a number of other elements of Spicer — aside from his confrontational style with reporters — ripped from the headlines or right from Spicer's own words that McCarthy satirized. Here are just a few:
Chewing (and swallowing) gum: Spicer told the Washington Post last summer about his habit of chewing and swallowing "two and a half packs by noon." Which Spicer said his doctor thinks is not harmful.
Standing ovation — and then some:This exaggerated description of Trump's rollout of his Supreme Court pick was inspired by Trump's actual exaggeration of the reception he received at the CIA. Trump told interviewers from ABC and Fox that he got a standing ovation when he went to CIA headquarters on Jan. 21 — but they were never asked to sit by the President in the first place.
"It's not a ban." — This was inspired by an actual exchange between Spicer and New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush over the use of the word betrayal and an exchange with NBC News correspondent Kristen Welker, who quoted Trump calling the recent executive order on immigration and refugees a "ban," which Spicer said was simply the president repeating back the press's words. Yesterday, Trump referred to the order as a "ban" multiple times in tweets.
Props:Visuals have been a part of a couple of episodes in the White House briefing room since Spicer stepped in. His first appearance in the briefing room — the one where he scolded reporters over inauguration crowd sizes — came with a full visual presentation. Then, after controversy erupted over a presidential memorandum giving Bannon a permanent place on the National Security Council's principals committee, Spicer held up such memos from past administrations in defense, though none made such a move as Trump had.
The show kicked off with the return of Alec Baldwin as Trump, making hostile phone calls to foreign leaders, with a subtle-ish jab in the form of a Russian flag pin on his lapel. There was also a repeat portrayal of Bannon as the grim reaper.
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