Sean Spicer is terrible on Dancing with the Stars, but he's also an "untruthful dancer"

The New York Times

The former White House press secretary, who continues to get the support of President Trump, has consistently been the worst dancer on Dancing with the Stars over the past eight weeks. "Bad dancing by a nonprofessional can be disarming," says dance critic Gia Kourlas. "It allows you to see the truth within the body that reveals character. But Mr. Spicer ... is something worse: an untruthful dancer." Spicer, says Kourlas, "isn’t trained, of course, but he has revealed much about his soul’s weather through his dancing. He hides behind an egregious smile, parting his teeth to make it look as though he’s been caught mid-laugh. That smile seems meant to distract from his plan of attack: never actually performing a dance, but conquering it." Kourlas adds: "When interlopers invade a dancer’s world, as contestants have on Dancing With the Stars since 2005, it reveals much — about their psyche, their strengths and weaknesses, their essence as human beings. Are they generous? Lazy? Thoughtless? The truth comes out in the dancing. As for Mr. Spicer, he’s as stiff and two-dimensional as a sheet of cardboard, with feet that move as if stuck in slabs of cement and arms that look like they’re still gripping the lectern. And while he acts as if he liked dancing — like he just wanted to have fun — all the Saturday Night Fever disco suits in the world can’t hide how much he seems to hate it, but knows he must endure it. Watching Mr. Spicer try to wipe away some of his disgrace through dancing hurts. Yet here he is, week after week, using dance as a way to redeem his character. Giving the public the chance to laugh with him — dressed as a buffoon in that scary green ruffled shirt, dancing to 'Spice Up Your Life' — and not at him comes off as a calculation, on his (and probably the show’s) part. And Mr. Spicer’s later performances have been scary in a different way, like his militaristic Paso Doble, which had a cold brutality to it."

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• A "stupid far-right campaign" is still keeping Spicer on Dancing
• William Shatner blames new format and technology glitches for Spicer staying on Dancing