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Sean Spicer’s participation on “Dancing With the Stars” became the latest battleground in America’s cultural wars, with President Donald Trump using his Twitter account to rally supporters to help his former White House press secretary stay on the show.
But an effusive tweet from Trump Monday night, praising Spicer and plugging his “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan, failed to keep Spicer in the competition.
The judges decided to finally eliminate Spicer from the reality TV competition, an outcome that many of the show’s fans, who take dance seriously, had long been hoping for. Throughout Spicer’s run on the show, he received consistently low scores and was regularly panned by the judges. But it is believed he was spared elimination, week after week, with the help of Trump supporters, who inundated ABC with votes, CNN reported.
Trump apparently hoped to work some of his MAGA magic again Monday night.
Business Insider reported that at 8:33 p.m., about a half hour into the show, as it aired live on the East coast, Trump tweeted: “Vote for Sean Spicer on Dancing with the Stars.”
Trump’s tweet also read, “He is a great and very loyal guy who is working very hard. He is in the quarterfinals — all the way with Sean! #MAGA #KAG.”
“KAG” is an acronym for “Keep America Great,” another popular pro-Trump slogan.
About an hour later, Trump deleted the tweet, according to ProPublica’s Politwoops Twitter-deletion tracker. Still, the screenshot of the deleted tweet was preserved and made the rounds of Twitter:
But screenshots live forever pic.twitter.com/4M69Gg0F6l
— TheRC (@roarcat1) November 12, 2019
At about 10 p.m. East coast time, Trump wrote a new tweet that said: “A great try by @seanspicer. We are all proud of you!”
A great try by @seanspicer. We are all proud of you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2019
Spicer later expressed gratitude to his former boss, writing on Twitter, “Thank you. I can’t begin express how much I appreciate your continued support, especially throughout my time on @DancingABC.”
Business Insider reported that there is some question about whether Trump has the legal right to delete his tweets, even if they come from his personal @realDonaldTrump account. Trump has deleted tweets in the past, often because of spelling mistakes. According to the 1978 Presidential Records Act, Trump’s electronic communication are considered public property and historical records.
Spicer left the White House in July 2017 but has stayed on good terms with Trump. In June 2018, he was tapped to join America First Action, a pro-Trump super PAC, as a senior advisor and spokesperson, the organization announced at the time.
Spicer’s participation in “Dancing With the Stars” was controversial from the start. Trump’s critics said it was wrong for ABC to give such a platform to someone who was a spokesperson for a divisive president, the Washington Post and other outlets reported. But Trump supporters, including his son Donald Trump Jr., saw Spicer’s run as a way to stick it to “liberals” and “leftist elites.”
What mattered in the end, though, is that Spicer simply wasn’t a good dancer, as many “DTWS” fans opined. His tenure frustrated judges and fans who were dismayed to see more talented celebrity dancers sent home, the Washington Post added.
Last week, Good Housekeeping logged some tweets from fans who believed that the show lost its credibility by allowing Spicer stay on the show for as long as it did:
#DWTS has lost all credibility. The scoring must change. This is a dancing competition. Next season the public voting should on be held on the night of the finale. Let the judges be judges, coaches, and mentors. Spicer continued, popular voting is a joke. I've stopped watching.
— John B (@bigbatjohn) November 6, 2019
WHO IS VOTING FOR SEAN SPICER?! Like honestly. DWTS is a joke! #dwts
— Bethany 💋 (@HanyBeth) November 7, 2019
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