Sean Spicer has a sense of humor about Melissa McCarthy’s “Saturday Night Live” impression of him, kicking up a big laugh from the White House press corps when he dropped an “SNL” joke: “Don’t make me make the podium move.”
Spicer was discussing something he’d tweeted earlier about U.S. unemployment falling to 4.7 percent in the first Labor Department report since Trump took office. When a reporter noted that Spicer’s tweet broke a federal rule that says administration officials have to wait at least an hour after the report’s release to comment on it — Spicer’s tweet came 22 minutes after the report — he responded by referencing McCarthy’s angry Spicer impersonation.
“It’s a bit silly — don’t make me make the podium move,” Spicer joked. In both “SNL” sketches in which McCarthy has appeared as Spicer, she has used the White House press room podium to physically push back reporters whose questions she doesn’t like. In the second sketch, the podium was even motorized and she drove it around the room, terrorizing reporters.
Here's @seanspicer threatening to channel the SNL impersonation of him: "Don't make me make the podium move" pic.twitter.com/c0VJ8Iskjz
— Michael Sebastian (@msebastian) March 10, 2017
“I mean, honest to God, every reporter here reported out that we had 235,000 jobs, 4.7 — there isn’t a TV station that didn’t go live to it,” Spicer continued as the press corps laughed.
Spicer has been criticized, especially early in his run as White House Press Secretary, for coming off as angry in answering questions. “SNL” keyed off that vibe with its sketches, bringing in McCarthy as a surprise guest in the first episode in which she berated reporters for asking what her Spicer considered dumb questions.
The sketches included McCarthy’s Spicer using stuffed animals, Barbie dolls, and other props to make points as simply as possible. And in addition to hitting reporters with the podium, the Spicer on “SNL” even blasted one with a Super Soaker squirt gun.
“This is soapy water and I’m washing that filthy lying mouth out!” she shouted.