On Friday morning, a few excited CNN staffers started tweeting some silly photos. Melissa McCarthy, costumed as Sean Spicer, was riding her motorized White House lectern around the street in front of the network’s offices. Why? We’ll give you one guess.
It’s for Saturday Night Live. Melissa McCarthy is hosting this week, and it looks like the show decided to up the ante on her very funny and very popular Sean Spicer impersonation. CNN’s Elana Zak even got a shot of the slate which has the skit’s title as “Spicer Returns.” This is surely an allusion to Spicer’s conspicuous absence from the White House this week, a week that’s been utterly overloaded with disastrous Trump news. (Spicer was reportedly away doing his monthly duties as a Navy Reserve officer.)
Filming the skit in front of CNN is especially rich. CNN, of course, is now Donald Trump’s least favorite network, and one of several networks that were initially barred from White House press briefings with Sean Spicer. CNN is also the original gangsta (OG) “fake news” organization, according to President Trump, even though CNN is very much a real and largely respected global news organization.
Another fun thing about the Spicey-mobile spottings in Midtown on Friday is that we get a close up look at what’s going on behind the lectern. The motorized vehicle is reportedly a repurposed motorized wheelchair. The news organization that reported on the Spicey-mobile? CNN, duh.
And finally, here’s some video of Melissa McCarthy cruising down 58th Street on the Spicey-mobile:
And here’s an angle from above:
Can’t wait to see the skit and laugh at the downfall of American democracy live on Saturday night!
Update 12:40pm EST - More videos have emerged: