On Saturday, for my birthday, my mom took me into Manhattan to attend the dress rehearsal for this week’s episode of Saturday Night Live. I had been before, but this time it was harder to get tickets, because Alec Baldwin would be hosting, which of course meant that there would be a Trump sketch. As we watched and laughed, I imagined Donald Trump viewing it, and wondered how he could get so worked up over the whole thing.
Saturday Night Live has been on air for over 40 years. That’s 7 other presidents before Trump even got to the White House. And yet, Donald Trump is the only one who ever had a problem with it.
Let’s begin in 1975, when the show first aired and Gerald Ford was the sitting POTUS. Chevy Chase starred in multiple sketches as Ford, protraying him as a clumsy, bumbling, klutz. How did Ford react? Although uncertain at first how to respond, due to his predecessor’s scandalous relationship with the media, and the nation feeling unsure of his leadership abilities, Ford decided instead to embrace the SNL crew. He invited Chevy Chase to the White House, and eventually, his press secretary Ron Nessen hosted an episode in April of 1976. So, I would say they took the jokes pretty well.
Jimmy Carter took office in 1977, and along with his presidency came a fair share of sketches starring Dan Aykroyd. His most famous sketch depicted Carter speaking to a caller who was on acid during a radio broadcast. The sketch was a spoof of a real CBS Radio broadcast that Carter had been on in 1977. Jimmy Carter, always the gentleman, did not send out any angry messages, or refer to the show as “terrible and “unwatchable,” as Trump has.
Next came the Reagan era, and presidential impersonations from Phil Hartman. He portrayed a president who was actually an evil, scheming mastermind when no one was looking. Hartman famously says in the Mastermind sketch, “You don’t need to understand. I’m the President, only I need to understand.” Reagan offered no furious messages to SNL for this one, either.
George H.W. Bush came next, and so did a slew of sketches performed by Dana Carvey. This time, Bush actually made jokes back. After his presidency, he opened a 1994 episode and joked about having “hard feelings” toward Carvey for making fun of him “regularly,” and vows to get revenge. He then gives full support to Carvey and the SNL program and promises that he and Barbara will be watching. Seems like Donald could learn a thing or two from H.W.
Darrell Hammond famously made light of Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky by reading excerpts from a seven hundred page manuscript detailing the incident. Hammond has appeared on the show as Clinton 60 times. Still, no angry tweets from Bill on the subject.
Will Ferrell’s hilarious impersonations of George W. Bush are some of his best sketches ever on the show. In these bits, Ferrell says to Osama bin Laden, “Buddy, you screwed up big time. And guess what, amigo, I’m coming to get you.” Ferrell actually recently returned as Bush to SNL to mock Donald Trump. The real Dubyah seemed unbothered.
Lastly, Jay Pharoah notably portrayed President Obama in 22 different sketches. SNL spoofed “Schoolhouse Rock” in 2014 when the cast mocked Obama’s executive action regarding immigration. Obama actually spoke out during the 2016 Election about how “thin-skinned” Trump was for being bothered by the show. He said, “This is a guy who, like, tweets, ‘They should cancel Saturday Night Live. I don’t like how Alec Baldwin’s imitating me.’ Really? I mean, that’s the thing that bothers you and you want to be president of the United States?”
The only other rehearsal of SNL I have ever attended took place in October of 2015. It featured a sketch that poked fun at Hillary Clinton. Much to my surprise, Hillary herself stepped onto the set and joined in alongside Kate McKinnon.
There are amendments to the Constitution, and the first one of these guarantees the freedom of the press. This means that the media can poke fun at you if they want to, Donald. Shows like Saturday Night Live and The SImpsons have a long and well-loved history of poking fun at celebrities and politicians. Donald Trump is the first president to have a problem with this. As President Obama questioned, is this really what you should be focused on? The actors are just doing their jobs, and you should, too.
