Maybe Sean Spicer was exactly what ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" needed: A boldface name, beloved by some, detested by others, who stirred interest in the 28th season of the reality TV workhorse.
Spicer capitalized on his former role as White House press secretary by doing the tango and the foxtrot for millions of ABC viewers. His former boss President Donald Trump seemed to take the competition seriously, tweeting out support for Spicer and urging the MAGA universe to cast votes for a man who has remained loyal during a perilous time for the president.
But every dance party ends eventually.
Spicer's party ended on Monday night when the "Dancing" judges decided to eliminate him from the reality TV competition.
Frankly, the surprise is that Spicer lasted this long, in the face of persistently low scores from the judges. It seemed like he received a significant boost, week after week, from Trump supporters who swarmed ABC with votes.
He urged red state America to stand with him — and his allies cast the whole thing as an example of the culture war. Multiple segments on Fox News celebrated Spicer's performance and promoted his continued involvement on the show.
At the same time, some loyal "Dancing" viewers were flummoxed by his success to date and frustrated by his entrance into the quarterfinals. They expressed their concerns on social media, according to Good Housekeeping.
At 8:33 p.m. on Monday, during the show's live airing on the East Coast, Trump tweeted and urged people to "vote for Sean."
Trump wrote, "He is a great and very loyal guy who is working very hard."
But after Spicer was voted off the show, Trump quickly deleted that message and posted a new one: "A great try by @seanspicer. We are all proud of you!"
"Thank you," Spicer replied a little later in the evening. "I can't begin express how much I appreciate your continued support, especially throughout my time on @DancingABC."
Spicer thanked everyone who voted for him "over the past 9 weeks." He said he had a blast.
The president's two dozen other tweets and retweets on Monday were mostly about the House's impeachment inquiry that has thrown the future of his term into doubt.
