--- description: Sean Spicer, President Trump's press secretary, thinks Melissa McCarthy could "dial it back" a bit. title: Sean Spicer Responds to Melissa McCarthy's 'SNL' Impression image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt319654a949cb09c0/6988b8e9a988caabf66bae14/sean-spicer.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer Responds to Melissa McCarthy's _SNL_ Impression by [Madeline Farber](/author/madeline-farber/) ## Madeline Farber Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 6, 2017 3:55 PM CUT  White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions from reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Feb. 1, 2017. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions from reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Feb. 1, 2017.Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Madeline Farber](/author/madeline-farber/) ## Madeline Farber Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 6, 2017 3:55 PM CUT Sean Spicer, President Trump’s press secretary, thinks Melissa McCarthy could “dial it back” a bit. In a _Saturday Night Live_ skit over the weekend, [McCarthy](http://time.com/4660549/melissa-mccarthy-sean-spicer-saturday-night-live-donald-trump/ "undefined") pretended to be Spicer during a White House press briefing, portraying him as an angry, gum-chewing spokesman who bullies reporters. Spicer responded to the skit during the [Super Bowl](http://time.com/4660730/super-bowl-2017-patriots-win/ "undefined") on Sunday. He told [Extra](http://extratv.com/2017/02/05/white-house-press-secretary-sean-spicer-reacts-to-melissa-mccarthys-snl-skit/ "undefined") that he thought it was a “really funny show,” but McCarthy could “dial it back” a bit, adding that “she needs to slow down on the gum chewing; way too many pieces in there.” Spicer first heard about the skit on Sunday morning, according to Extra, and was bombarded with text messages — so much so that he thought there was a “national emergency,” Extra reports. As for Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of President Trump, Spicer had a more serious response. “Alec has gone from funny to mean, and that’s unfortunate. _SNL_ used to be really funny. There’s a streak of meanness now that they’ve crossed over to mean,” Spicer told Extra. Trump has repeatedly called out Baldwin’s portrayal of him. In mid-January, the President tweeted that _Saturday Night Live_ is the “[worst of NBC](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/820764134857969666?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw "undefined").” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4661057/sean-spicer-melissa-mccarthy-snl/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4661057/sean-spicer-melissa-mccarthy-snl/"},"headline":"White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer Responds to Melissa McCarthy's SNL Impression","datePublished":"2017-02-06T15:55:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:40:50.621Z","description":"Spicer said she could \"dial back a bit\"","url":"https://time.com/4661057/sean-spicer-melissa-mccarthy-snl/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","SNL","melissa mccarthy","onetime","sean spicer"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt319654a949cb09c0/6988b8e9a988caabf66bae14/sean-spicer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Madeline Farber","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/madeline-farber/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt319654a949cb09c0/6988b8e9a988caabf66bae14/sean-spicer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer Holds Daily News Briefing","caption":"White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer Holds Daily News Briefing","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4661057/sean-spicer-melissa-mccarthy-snl/","name":"White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer Responds to Melissa McCarthy's SNL Impression"}}]}] ```