Before the Emmy Awards on Sunday night, Axios editor and political reporter Mike Allen teased that the show would feature a “Washington-related stunt” – and if everything went according to plan, it would be “a big talker.”
That turned out to be an understatement. A surprise onstage appearance by Sean Spicer, President Trump’s former press secretary, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles immediately became a hotly debated flash point, as the Hollywood crowd cheered Spicer’s self-deprecating cameo.
However, lots of viewers at home didn’t find much humor in an effort to “normalize” a White House official who had delivered statements to the American people that were easily proved false.
“This will be the largest audience to witness the Emmys, period, both in person and around the world,” Spicer announced, standing behind a rolling lectern similar to the one that Melissa McCarthy used to mock him with her impersonation on “Saturday Night Live.”
Spicer’s statement was, of course, a reference to his first appearance as press secretary, when he declared, “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration – period – both in person and around the globe.”
Last week, Spicer went on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and essentially admitted that he would say whatever Trump wanted him to, regardless of whether he believed it – and after the inauguration, Trump told him to talk about the crowd size. So, people wondered, who exactly was Spicer making fun of here? Was he throwing the president under the bus?
“No,” Spicer said Monday. “It was an attempt for me to poke a little fun at myself and bring some levity to the situation.”
But wouldn’t it also be making fun of the man who back in January demanded that Spicer make the original false statement about the inauguration crowd size?
“That was me at the podium,” Spicer said. “It was all about me.”
Afterward, Spicer had his picture taken with late-night hosts who raked him over the coals during his tenure, such as Emmys host Stephen Colbert of CBS’ “Late Show” and Seth Meyers of NBC’s “Late Night.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
