Sean Spicer, the former press secretary to President Donald Trump, made his first appearance on “Dancing with the Stars” on Monday night.
Spicer appeared with dance partner Lindsay Arnold, wearing a ruffled neon green shirt and doing the salsa to the Spice Girls’ “Spice Up Your Life.” The routine began with Spicer slapping bongos before being joined on stage by Arnold.
At one point, as Spicer ran down the steps of the “Dancing With The Stars” stage, he waves his arms back and forth wildly, creating an instantly gif-able moment for the internet to seize on.
Spicer and Arnold scored a 12 out of 30 points for their dance routine, the second-lowest score of the night, and the performance was lambasted online.
However, Spicer, who served as press secretary from the beginning of the Trump administration until July of 2017 and was criticized for his treatment of the press, seemed to know he looked silly in a tweet sent out before the performance aired.
In response to a tweet reminding readers that Spicer would be making his “Dancing With The Stars” debut, he wrote: “Trust me, I certainly haven’t forgotten and once you see the outfit I have to wear tonight you won’t forget for quite some time — even after lots of therapy Treat this like looking at an eclipse with a dot poked in a piece of paper.”
After the performance, Spicer responded to a tweet from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, encouraging the show’s audience to vote for him.
“Thank you @GovMikeHuckabee Clearly the judges aren’t going to be with me. Let’s send a message to #Hollywood that those of us who stand for #Christ won’t be discounted. May God bless you,” Spicer wrote.
The announcement last month that Spicer would be added to the cast was met with swift backlash, including from the show’s co-host, Tom Bergeron.