Trump gets trumped by SNL cast

On Saturday, Nov. 7, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump hosted the popular TV show “Saturday Night Live”. This added to the political theme of Saturday’s episode, which opened with a sketch parodying Democratic presidential candidates Martin O’Malley, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, played by Larry David, the co-creator of the 90s sitcom “Seinfeld”. 

The sketch featured a mock interview of the candidates by cast member Cecily Strong, who played Rachel Maddow, host of “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC. Strong opened by introducing Martin O’Malley, played by Taran Killam, with the statement “We will get to the fun ones in a sec but first we have to eat our vegetables – here’s Martin O’Malley.” 

O’Malley is currently polling the lowest of the three nominees, at around 3 percent, according to CNN.com. 

The sketch also poked fun at the popular perception of Clinton as un-relatable and the low budget of Sander’s grassroots campaign, with Larry David stating, “I’m Bernie Sanders and I want your vacuum pennies,” the joke being that Sanders is only interested in his supporters’ spare change. 

After the opening sketch and credits, Trump’s monologue began, in which he stated that he was hosting because he could take a joke, while impersonators played by SNL cast members, parodied his dour demeanor. 

According to Alex Phan, Liberal Arts, Trump hosting the show was actually nothing more than a publicity stunt. Phan said that he believes the same to be true of Trump’s candidacy. According to Time.com, Saturday night’s episode garnered SNL its highest ratings in almost four years.  

In the following sketches, Trump and cast members alike made light of some of Trump’s more controversial stances, particularly in regards to immigration and his accusation that Obama is not an American citizen. 

Phan stated that he believes Trump doesn’t “talk about real issues.” Trump alluded to this criticism levied by Phan and others in a sketch that featured him as President in 2018.  In the sketch, the American public is dissatisfied with Trump’s performance because things are going too well. Trump went on to state that he did not need to get specific about the issues as President - his success is just magic. 

Phan stated that his favorite part of the show was its ending, in which cast members appeared to snub Trump by appearing to stand far away from him and not offering to shake his hand.