The 'President Of The United States' Made An Appearance At The Tonys

Damned if Kevin Spacey was going to get through the 2017 Tony Awards without slipping into his “House of Cards” character at least once.

When “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda took the stage to announce the year’s Best Musical, he appeared purposefully envelope-less, forced to request one over the microphone before he could anoint the ceremony’s final winner.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States,” an announcer bellowed, momentarily turning a few heads looking to see who’d be delivering the paper Miranda needed.

“Francis J. Underwood,” the voice said, introducing Spacey as Frank Underwood, who paraded toward Miranda, with Claire (Robin Wright) and Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly) in tow, to the tune of “Hail to the Chief.”

Claire, wearing a familiar military-style dress, stood silent as Frank shook the hand “of the man who created ‘Hamilton,’ the musical that does our nation proud.” The fake president handed over the envelope before pulling his signature fourth-wall-breaking gaze.

“Claire, let’s leave them to allow them to finish up with their award show,” he said. “I want to get the hell out of here before Bette Midler thanks anyone else,” he chirped directly into the camera.

Maybe this was the Tonys’ attempt to avoid an envelope debacle like that of the Oscars. Or maybe it was Spacey’s last attempt to remind audiences to watch “House of Cards” ― its fifth season is streaming on Netflix now.

Either way, the Tony Awards didn’t miss their moment to promote “the shot America deserves,” quickly tweeting out an Underwood-Miranda 2020 campaign sticker.

Upon receiving the envelope, Miranda announced that “Dear Evan Hansen” had nabbed the awards show’s concluding statuette, putting a cap on a long night filled with Spacey’s impersonations, Colbert’s Trump jokes, Mark Hamil’s Carrie Fisher tribute and an appearance by Dr. Jill Biden.

See a full list of the winners here.