White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer sparred with a reporter during his daily press briefing on Monday.
Spicer, who speaks on behalf of US President Donald Trump, lost patience with one journalist who interrupted a question during the session.
The spat provided a fleeting glimpse of the parody of Spicer’s press conferences performed by Melissa McCarthy on ‘Saturday Night Live’. Watch the clip, below.
McCarthy, who sends up Spicer’s sometimes combative style, has become one of the Trump administration’s greatest comedic foes, with her impressions shared by millions online.
In one skit, McCarthy’s Spicer fires a Super Soaker at the assembled press corp and then lifts up the podium and uses it to hit a reporter.
The real-life spat came as Spicer created distance between the White House and two former senior members of Trump’s team, amid an FBI investigation into possible connections between Trump “associates” and Russia.
Spicer referred to Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, as a “volunteer of the campaign”. And he said Paul Manafort, who ran Trump’s campaign leading up to the Republican National Convention, “played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time”.
Trump earlier tweeted a video clip of FBI Director James Comey being asked if he informed Obama about calls made by Flynn. Comey says he won’t discuss that case or any other discussions he had with Obama, the AP reported.