Sean Spicer Joins Stephen Colbert at the Emmys

It was not the cameo you might have expected to see.

In Stephen Colbert’s opening monologue of the Emmys, as he unleashed a series of jokes aimed at President Trump, he brought the former White House press secretary Sean Spicer onto the stage. No, not Melissa McCarthy, who famously portrayed him on “Saturday Night Live” — it was the real Sean Spicer, rolling out a mock pressroom lectern.

“This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys, period,” he said. “Both in person and around the world.”

“Wow, that really soothes my fragile ego,” Mr. Colbert responded. “I can understand why you would want one of these guys around.”

It was, you might remember, a callback to Mr. Spicer’s statement that Mr. Trump’s inauguration featured “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration,” a claim easily disproved by photos.

Mr. Spicer, who famously sparred with journalists from the White House press room, resigned as press secretary in July. He had stayed out of the public spotlight since then, but then he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel last week. He largely stood by President Trump during that appearance and said he thought Ms. McCarthy’s impression of him was “kind of funny.”

On Twitter, some viewers were not interested in laughing along with Mr. Spicer.

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