Story highlights Dean Obeidallah: "SNL" presented a highly sympathetic version of Sean Spicer

Danger of political comedy is that it makes flawed figures seem too endearing

Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM's radio's daily program "The Dean Obeidallah Show" and a columnist for The Daily Beast. Follow him @deanofcomedy. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his. For more on humor, watch CNN's "The History of Comedy" Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

(CNN) Thanks to "Saturday Night Live,' we have two versions of Sean Spicer. There's the sympathetic one who Melissa McCarthy plays hilariously on the late-night show. And then there's the Spicer who has defended many of Donald Trump's outrageous claims with false statements and outright lies.

The problem is that the "SNL" version made Spicer far more endearing than he actually is. And this gives us a sense of the power of political comedy. Comedy can be used to make us laugh while reminding us of a politician's transgressions. But the risk is that comedy can make a flawed political figure seem sympathetic and even help us overlook his misconduct.

Just look at the reactions when Spicer announced his resignation as press secretary on Friday. Democratic Rep. Pramila Jaypal tweeted , "Huge blow for "SNL." Farewell, Sean Spicer." Journalist and CNN contributor April Ryan, who had battled with Spicer in the past tweeted, "It is over no more Melissa McCarthy!" While actor Zach Braff wrote on Twitter "actual footage of Sean Spicer" and shared a clip of McCarthy looking forlorn on the streets of New York.

Don't get me wrong -- I had a similar reaction to the news of his resignation. But if McCarthy and "SNL" had not depicted Spicer in the fashion they had, do you think we would've seen such a strong reaction?

Instead, many of us would have responded the way The New York Times " eulogized " Spicer on Saturday -- as the person who began by lying on day one as the White House spokesperson and only continued from there.

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