Sean Spicer steals 'Russian Dressing' joke from Twitter jokester Mike Huckabee

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer probably thought he zinged reporters pretty good during Tuesday's daily press briefing, when he said: "Somehow if the president puts Russian dressing on his salad there's a connection to Russia."

"Somehow if the president puts Russian dressing on his salad there's a connection to Russia." — Instant Spicer classic.

— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) March 28, 2017

Unfortunately for Spicer, he wasn't the first to reference salad dressing in claiming the Russia story is overblown. That honor goes to Twitter's resident Republican bad joke maker, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who made the same zing earlier on March 3.

Full disclosure:I have NOT met with Russian AMB, but did have Russian dressing on a salad last September. I'll recuse from salads for a week

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) March 3, 2017

Stealing jokes, of course, is the worst sin of comedy. Accusations have battered and even ended the careers of notable comedians. Dane Cook was never the same after Louis C.K. accused him of stealing jokes. Accusations against comedian Carlos Mencia from the likes of George Lopez, Joe Rogan and "South Park" have caused him to more or less vanish from the public eye.

Spicer probably won't lose his spot on TV for stealing from Huckabee. Then again, who knows how big a stand-up fan Trump is.

The press secretary tried to use the joke to dismiss journalists' tough questions on the Trump team's connections to the Kremlin. Trump and the White House have repeatedly claimed there's nothing to the story and that reports on it are "fake news." Trump even tweeted about the FBI's Russia investigation over the weekend, invoking his favorite targets, the Clintons.

And Spicer might have been feeling good after his last notable joke, invoking Melissa McCarthy's "SNL" impression of him, got laughs from the press and the Internet. But for Spicer, the joke didn't go over well in the room. For Huckabee, the probable upshot of Spicer stealing his gag was that it bombed.

Also Read: #ButHerEmails: All Sean Spicer's Cybersecurity Problems So Far

In joking in hopes that it would make journalists seem absurd, Spicer probably wasn't expecting Twitter users to pounce and drag him with even better ones.

Yet I'm pretty sure WH wouldn't obstruct justice to prove he used ranch pic.twitter.com/Rs5D9SEWAK

— MB (@mikebailyphoto) March 28, 2017

@adamed he's always Putin Russian dressing on his salad

— Add your name (@monicarooney) March 28, 2017

"In Trump America, the Russian dressing puts on you!" https://t.co/xRQIRZ8JhT

Also Read: Reporter on Spicer's Demand to 'Stop Shaking Your Head': 'I Was Roadkill Today' (Video)

Sean Spicer is such a windbag he doesn't know what's Russian and what isn't. Russian Dressing isn't Russian. It's American. #Spicer pic.twitter.com/JEfDKd9Zkm

— Matt Lipton (@mattliptoncomic) March 28, 201

Many referenced the "Trump sandwich" restaurants around the world advertised during the election.

Baloney, Russian dressing,American cheese on white bread with a "small pickle" on the side."served by a Mexican or Muslim,"#TrumpSandwich pic.twitter.com/kPQbMj5P27

And a whole lot of people noted that Russian dressing isn't really for salads — it's for sandwiches.

Also Read: 'SNL': Melissa McCarthy's Spicer Returns to Send Disney's Moana to Gitmo (Video)

russian dressing doesn't go on salad

— Sean Morrow (@snmrrw) March 28, 2017

russian dressing should never be put on salad https://t.co/KhrbsKEBmy

Russian dressing goes on a reuben, not on a salad.#FakeNews

— WillAtWork (@WillAtWork) March 28, 2017

Everyone knows Russian dressing goes on Reubens, not salad. What kind of cover-up is Spicer trying to pull?

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) March 28, 2017

Also Read: 'SNL': Watch Melissa McCarthy's Sean Spicer Hit White House Press With Podium (Video)

— Mike Perchick (@MichaelPerchick) March 28, 2017

Then again, it's well-known that Trump likes his steaks well-done with ketchup. So maybe Russian dressing (which has a base of ketchup and mayonnaise) is his kind of salad dressing.

"RUSSIAN DRESSING" IS KETCHUP AND MAYO AND NO I'M NOT JOKING LOOK IT UP

— Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) March 28, 2017

Huckabee, meanwhile, is well-known on Twitter for trying, and often failing, to make fun of his favorite targets — journalists and liberals, mostly. Other Huckabee food jokes include the one where he said federal judge Neil Gorsuch was answering senate confirmation hearing questions so well, he was turning democrats into pork sausage. Or something.

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) March 21, 2017