Politicians love doing any media showing that will make them seem more relatable, and it seems like appearing on Saturday Night Live is a popular strategy. A few weeks ago Hillary Clinton made an appearance in one sketch on the show, and this past Saturday Donald Trump hosted.
Donald Trump has definitely earned a lot of media attention recently, but did his time on SNL help him win the hearts of his audience? Here’s my take on every sketch he performed in:
Opening Monologue:
Here Trump tried to poke fun at the the way the media portrays him, trying to make his actions seem like they’re exaggerated and blown out of proportion.
Even though the caricature of him is spot on, it isn’t anywhere near over the top — it honestly sounded just like he normally does in the debates.
This attempt to laugh at himself really just drew attention to how much of a jerk he is, so strike one for Mr. Trump. Whoever his PR person is that wrote this script, you’re fired.
White House 2018:
Trump sits down for a meeting with his cabinet in this sketch while they update him on everything that’s happened in two years of Trump’s fictional presidency. They go over all of the items on his platform, including the wall around china and plating the Washington Monument with gold.
This was an overt statement of Trump’s platform. They spoke about all of his main talking points while they were literally sitting in the White House. This was such an obvious political move. I mean, come on, couldn’t his PR team incorporate his positions a little bit more creatively?
At this point, everyone on the PR team that planned this media appearance, you’re fired.
Live Tweeting:
Trump decides to sit this skit out and “live tweets” it instead. Pre-written tweets come up on the screen that make fun of the cast members as they perform, and the cast gets self-conscious about the audience’s reaction to the tweets.
This is just typical Donald Trump being a jerk and looks like him doing business as usual. It’s an okay sketch and Leslie Jones has an entertaining moment, but overall it’s just boring. If you want to see Donald Trump being a jerk, just watch any of his public appearances. It’s just like this sketch.
Hotline Bling Parody:
Trump makes a quick appearance dancing to Drake and it was his only sketch that made me laugh out loud. Good for you on this one, Trump.
Porn Stars: Donald Trump:
This fake political ad had some innuendo that was alright, but Trump came in at the end disapproving of the message and then immediately flirted with one of the girls. This is the kind of action that makes the public's opinion of him so divided, something that shouldn’t be highlighted on prime time TV.
The Verdict:
Honestly, this show could not have been any worse for Trump. He made the show extremely boring, one of the worst political moves you can make. In fact, Larry David stole the show away with his Bernie Sanders impression in the cold open, making Sanders the memorable political figure of the evening. Trump just came across as his same polarizing self again.
Just watch the cold open to see Larry David killing the impression game – the rest of the episode isn’t worth watching.
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