After the liberal media spent months laughing over Melissa McCarthy’s depiction of former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, on Monday, MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle was outraged that Spicer himself would participate in a similar skit during Sunday night’s Emmy Awards.
“That of course was former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer making a cameo during one of the more memorable moments of the 69th primetime Emmy Awards. But not everybody was laughing,” Ruhle declared after playing a clip of Spicer’s appearance. She touted: “Some criticized that moment as normalizing and making light of a White House press office that has repeatedly been caught lying and exaggerating.”
While admitting that she laughed at that self-deprecating humor herself, Ruhle fretted to Democratic Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty: “But there is an argument to be made, Sean Spicer did get up there and lie. He lied about crowd size the day after the President was inaugurated....we know we teach our kids lying not acceptable.”
Esty confessed: “Well, I thought it was I funny, it was smart of him to do it. You got to be able to joke about things.” Ruhle rebuked her: “But joke about what, that he got up there and lied over and over? This is the White House.” The Connecticut Democrat then complied with the liberal host’s anger:
The dysfunction, I’m very concerned about it. Because frankly we need agreed upon facts....And that is one of the most concerning things that we see coming out of the White House, is questioning of what are baseline facts. And I think none of us know how to handle it. I know folks in the media are having trouble handling it and I think we have to be consistent. I try to just try to put facts out there as much as I can, links to trusted sites or whatever. But it is hard....I don’t know what I’d do if I had school-age kids right now. Because it’s hard, you want to respect the office, but you know, we’re taught certain things. Hyperbole is one thing and like not telling what is true is something else, and it is concerning.
Like Ruhle, Brian Stelter took to CNN Monday morning to decry how the Emmys skit helped “normalize” Spicer. The same liberal talking points were echoed on ABC’s Good Morning Ameirca as well, with co-host George Stephanoopoulos lamenting: “Listen, anybody can make fun of themselves, that’s a good thing but this is a pretty serious problem....Sean and other representatives of this administration simply didn’t tell the truth.”
Ruhle’s bias was brought to viewers by Ancestry, Raymond James, and GEICO.
Here is a transcript of the September 18 exchange:
9:45 AM ET
SEAN SPICER: This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys, period! Both in person and around the world.
STEPHANIE RUHLE: That of course was former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer making a cameo during one of the more memorable moments of the 69th primetime Emmy Awards. But not everybody was laughing. Some criticized that moment as normalizing and making light of a White House press office that has repeatedly been caught lying and exaggerating.
I want to bring my panel back for reaction to this. I want to start with you, Congresswoman. We all sort of laughed about it. And when I watched it, I laughed about it too. Coming up on the podium, Melissa McCarthy style. But there is an argument to be made, Sean Spicer did get up there and lie. He lied about crowd size the day after the President was inaugurated. All three of us are parents, we know we teach our kids lying not acceptable. What’s your take on this?
REP. ELIZABETH ESTY [D-CT]: Well, I thought it was I funny, it was smart of him to do it. You got to be able to joke about things. But part of it is we joke about –
RUHLE: But joke about what, that he got up there and lied over and over? This is the White House.
ESTY: The dysfunction, I’m very concerned about it. Because frankly we need agreed upon facts. You know, Tom and I were talking during the break about climate change, we were talking about negotiations on trade. And we need a set of facts we agree on. And that is one of the most concerning things that we see coming out of the White House, is questioning of what are baseline facts. And I think none of us know how to handle it. I know folks in the media are having trouble handling it and I think we have to be consistent. I try to just try to put facts out there as much as I can, links to trusted sites or whatever. But it is hard.
And you’ve got kids, I’ve got kids, mine are grown and they are furious about it. I don’t know what I’d do if I had school-age kids right now. Because it’s hard, you want to respect the office, but you know, we’re taught certain things. Hyperbole is one thing and like not telling what is true is something else, and it is concerning.
But we got a lot of W to do, and that’s the problem. We’re trying to get work done and it’s a distraction from getting work done the Congress needs to do and the country needs us to do.
(...)
