CNN’s Reliable Sources anchor Brian Stelter said while former White House press secretary Sean Spicer has some odd dance moves, it is not funny for the ABC network to normalize him through Dancing with the Stars after his first performance.
“Twitter tells me I’m supposed to be outraged by this,” host John Berman told Stelter on Tuesday. “I will tell you that I can’t, you know, vouch for the outfit. The outfit is inexplicable, unjustifiable. But the dancing doesn’t suck.”
“I love bad dancing as much as anybody, but I don’t think it’s a joke to put Spicer on this show,” Stelter said.
“He was ‘Mr. Misinformation,’ working for a president who was trying to tear down the American news media. To have ABC put him on and make entertainment out of it, to make light out of it, I do think that’s troubling and I think a lot of viewers are holding their nose,” he continued. “But then you see him come out there in that outfit, which I would never be able to wear, and I’ve got to give him credit for the confidence. Now it’s that same confidence that lets him go out and lie to the public.”
When it was announced Spicer would be on this season of the longtime running dance competition, Stelter said the backlash and outrage that followed was deserved.
“The Trump White House has a record of misleading the public. All administrations spin. This administration lies consistently, whether it’s Sanders, or Spicer, or other White House aides. And it’s all led from the top by a president who lies even about the weather and the time of day. That, I think, is why this deserves outrage and backlash.”
Spicer had encouraged viewers to vote for him because the judges would be biased against him. He sent, then later deleted, a tweet that said, “Let’s send a message to #Hollywood that those of us who stand for #Christ won’t be discounted.”
[Opinion: Why Sean Spicer and ‘Dancing with the Stars’ might be a perfect pair]
