His lambasting of the White House press corps, false claims about inauguration attendance<br />and occasional use of props were viciously parodied by Saturday Night Live last weekend — with the actress Melissa McCarthy portraying Mr. Spicer — causing consternation inside the White House, Politico reported.<br />Ari Fleischer, President George W. Bush’s first press secretary, said<br />that his post-inauguration press briefings in 2001 were also carried live by the cable networks, but interest waned a few weeks into the administration.<br />He is no match for “The Young and the Restless.” But he is beating “The Bold and the Beautiful.”<br />Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary whose early tenure has prompted political fireworks<br />and late-night parodies, may be struggling to settle in behind the lectern.<br />Audiences across Fox News, MSNBC and CNN grow by an average of 10 percent when Mr. Spicer<br />comes onscreen to discuss the latest news on President Trump, statistics show.<br />The big ratings offer a quantifiable measure for what has become a truism in Washington: Three weeks into the Trump administration, Mr. Spicer’s daily joust with reporters — peppered with fiery exchanges, memorable malapropisms<br />and some much discussed dissembling — are now must-see-TV for the political class.<br />Mr. Spicer’s briefings, carried live by the major cable news networks, are pulling<br />in an average of 4.3 million viewers, according to data from Nielsen.<br />“Depending on your perspective, you either tune in to watch Sean defend the indefensible, or to watch media bias in action.”<br />The interest in Mr. Spicer’s briefings coincides with a spike in cable news viewership over all.
