Earlier this week, Donald Trump stated that the media, Saturday Night Live in particular, was rigging the election to cater to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. He tweeted on October 16th that it was time to “retire the boring and unfunny show” and that Alec Baldwin’s portrayal “stinks”, reiterating his overused idea that the media is rigging the election. Yet in November of 2015, he appeared as the host of SNL, stating that it was an amazing show and that it was an honor to be a part of it.
The fact that Trump only speaks up now against SNL after the second debate is highly confusing as well. They have been parodying him throughout his entire campaign and just now he decides to say something against the popular show? Perhaps it is Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of him that leaves a bad taste in his mouth. Hillary, on the other hand, has an extremely positive opinion about SNL’s parodies. She has stated in interviews that both Kate McKinnon’s and Baldwin’s impressions are spot on and that they must have been shadowing them to get such accurate portrayals. Clinton loves McKinnon’s impression of her, so much so that she has even appeared in a skit alongside McKinnon playing her. The SNL actors have done an amazing job becoming our presidential candidates.
SNL clapped back at Trump’s allegations with their latest episode that premiered on October 22nd. They parodied the Final Debate with Baldwin and McKinnon reprising their roles, seemingly unworried about Trump’s threats. Baldwin referenced Trump’s remarks about him by boasting that he has support from the “best Baldwin brother – Stephen Baldwin” while in charracter. In addition to this, they mentioned Trump’s accusastions against them during the Weekend Update.
“Trump keeps saying that the media is rigging the election against him. But why would the media rig it against him? He is the greatest thing that ever happened to them. Who do you think they would rather spend the next four years covering, a grandma who loves secrets or a human air horn who screams every thought in his head and who can’t swing his arm without grabbing a lady’s ***.”
One thought that popped into my head when I heard about the accusations against the media was if Trump even has any legal standpoint to do something against SNL or other media companies. I interviewed Dr. Ian Peters, one of Brenau University’s Mass Communication professors who teaches a course on Communication Law. Dr. Peters stated that “SNL is allowed to parody different celebrities because they are doing it for entertainment purposes. What Trump is trying to do is establish a dictatorship of sorts by regulating what is and is not made about him. He has no basis in trying to cancel SNL. Donald Trump has no authority over SNL.”
Well, that’s good to hear. Our beloved Saturday Night Live won’t be going anywhere for a while. We will have to stay updated to see if Trump wants to say anything else on this matter. Don’t forget to vote on November 8th and be aware that in the weeks before an election, both candidates will be throwing out all the information they have about their opponents. It could get messy. So get to the polls and vote, vote, vote!