President Trump, like most of the rest of the country, watched comedian Melissa McCarthy’s vicious takedown of White House press secretary Sean Spicer on this past week’s “Saturday Night Live.” And he wasn’t happy. Not because of how Spicer was portrayed — as a hectoring know-it-all — but reportedly because the actor who was impersonating Spicer was female.
This, from Politico, is eye-popping:
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 sendup by a female comedian was not considered helpful for Spicer’s longevity in the grueling, high-profile job, where 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.
Okay. Now go back and read those two paragraphs again.
So, the fact that “Saturday Night Live” chose a woman to play Spicer was Trump’s biggest problem with the sketch. And, according to a major Trump donor, that’s because a woman playing a man makes Spicer look weak. (That idea deserves its own blog post, or maybe book.) Spicer’s long-term viability in the job could also be affected by the impression, which (a) he had nothing to do with and (b) he had zero control or influence over.
wpDiscuz