Sean Spicer joked about lying to the American people in a surprise appearance at Sunday’s 69th annual Emmy Awards.

Unsurprisingly, viewers were not enthused.

As the former White House press secretary made his way onto the Emmy Awards stage rolling the podium that looked similar to the one “Saturday Night Live” used to mock him, tweets poured in from viewers at home, accusing the show of trying to normalize an official who repeatedly lied to the American public.

“Trying to normalize Sean Spicer already?” Daily Kos staff writer Gabe Ortíz tweeted.

“Harvard fellowships, Emmy appearances, huge speaking fees: there’s just gonna be no penalty for working in Trump’s White House, huh?” Jon Favreau added.

Spicer’s tenure serving in the Trump administration was marked by frequent controversies, starting from his first day on the job. Following Trump’s inauguration, the press secretary told reporters that the president’s inauguration featured the largest crowd in presidential inauguration history ― a claim quickly proved false by photographs.

It was this same controversy Spicer made light of with a joke during his surprise Emmy appearance. He rolled onto the stage and declared, “This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys, period.”

Following Spicer’s onstage appearance, the Hollywood Reporter’s Chris Gardner said the former press secretary was enjoying his time in the spotlight, posing for photos and drinking beer among the stars.

What pariah? Sean Spicer getting mobbed in #Emmys lobby. Posing for pics, drinking beer, soaking up all attention after onstage appearance pic.twitter.com/WqJpaRtAvK — Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) September 18, 2017

Members of the viewing public were quick to call out the problem with allowing Spicer himself to laugh off what became the first of many lies and misstatements the press secretary used to defend Trump.

Take a look at some of the most searing viewer reactions below.

I've reported in 5 conflict zones, wrote a book and still have trouble getting men to take me seriously but Sean Spicer works at Harvard now — Sulome Anderson (@SulomeAnderson) September 18, 2017

As Deray would say, watch whiteness work to normalize Sean Spicer! COME! ON! — roxane gay (@rgay) September 18, 2017

Harvard fellowships, Emmy appearances, huge speaking fees: there's just gonna be no penalty for working in Trump's White House, huh? — Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) September 18, 2017

What fun to watch @seanspicer having a sense of humor about all the times he lied to the American public! GOOD SPORT! #emmys — Paul F. Tompkins (@PFTompkins) September 18, 2017

Isn't it funny! Sean Spicer comes out @ #Emmys to lampoon moment he tried intimidating White House press corps over inauguration crowd. Sigh — Eric Deggans at NPR (@Deggans) September 18, 2017

Hey remember that time when Sean Spicer blatantly lied from behind the White House podium? It's now a punch line...that he is in on! — Matt Viser (@mviser) September 18, 2017

Sean Spicer lied for MONTHSSSS and now he's up there on the #Emmys stage. pic.twitter.com/artgntiOH0 — Philip Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 18, 2017

So we're just letting Sean Spicer in on the joke now, huh? — Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz) September 18, 2017

I'm not ready to laugh "with" Sean Spicer. I think he is an evil, opportunistic liar that hurt our country. — Zach Braff (@zachbraff) September 18, 2017

Steve Bannon got a 60 Minutes feature & Sean Spicer got an #Emmys cameo, but Hillary Clinton needs to "shut up & go away"? Mmkay. — Sarah Lerner (@SarahLerner) September 18, 2017

Sean Spicer's stint in the Emmys just reminds me that Hollywood will always reward whiteness and racism despite how destructive or dangerous — sarah amy harvard (@amyharvard_) September 18, 2017

.@seanspicer can normalize himself in good fun, but he still passionately advocated against human rights, health care, & American values — Kal Penn (@kalpenn) September 18, 2017

Sean Spicer gets a recovery tour after lying to the public for months but the first woman nominee is supposed to go into hiding



Fuck sexism — JeremyConstantinople (@smartflexin) September 18, 2017

I can't normalize a man who lied for months and called concentration camps "Holocaust Centers". #SeanSpicer — Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) September 18, 2017

I'm not ready for the redemption of Sean Spicer* #emmys



* will never be ready — Doree Shafrir (@doree) September 18, 2017

Interesting choice by Emmys to let someone joke about demonstrably lying to the American people on behalf of the most powerful person in US — Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) September 18, 2017