President Donald Trump is upset that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was spoofed by a woman, Melissa McCarthy, on Saturday Night Live, Politico reported Monday, February 6.
According to the news outlet, the Ghostbusters actress’ much-lauded portrayal of the communications director on the Saturday, February 4, episode of the NBC late-night sketch-comedy show “did not go over well internally” at the White House. Sources close to Trump, 70, told the site that the sketch “was most problematic in the president’s eyes” because Spicer was played by a woman rather than a man.
“Trump doesn’t like his people to look weak,” a top Trump donor told Politico.
McCarthy, 46, made a surprise appearance on SNL to mock Spicer’s recent press briefings in which he incorrectly stated that the media misreported the size of the president’s January 20 inauguration crowd. Spicer’s claim later led Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway to coin the now-infamous term “alternative facts.” During McCarthy’s sketch, she spoofed Spicer’s gum-chomping and nonsensical responses to press queries, threatened to “punch” members of the press corps and even sprayed a journalist with a Super Soaker midconference.
Spicer, 45, shrugged off the spoof, telling Extra on Sunday, February 5, that he thought McCarthy needed to “slow down on the gum-chewing.” Trump, however, stayed silent over the weekend and did not comment on the sketch, an uncharacteristic move considering his many previous tweets against Alec Baldwin‘s SNL impression of him.
Politico noted that the real estate mogul’s silence spoke volumes and “was seen internally as a sign of how uncomfortable [McCarthy’s portrayal] made the White House feel.” Sources told the site that the comedian’s impression “struck a nerve and was upsetting to the press secretary and to his allies.”
When asked about the sketch in a phone interview with Politico on Monday afternoon, Spicer replied, “I would much rather have the focus be on the president’s agenda and the success he’s having. That’s all I’m saying on it. … It doesn’t really matter what I think.”