‘SNL’ Defends Enlisting Donald Trump as Host, Rejects Blame for Election Results
Did the sight of Jimmy Fallon tousling Donald Trump's hair leave you livid? Did the fact that Saturday Night Live enlisted Trump as a host in 2015 — a point at which the Republican presidential candidate was already propagating dangerous, racist, homophobic and sexist mania across the campaign circuit — devastate you? Tough noogies, nerds! SNL couldn't really care less that you're upset.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Colin Jost — who famously didn't apologize for uttering a blatantly transphobic joke in November — continued not apologizing for things that viewers find offensive. He argued that Trump was already famous by the time he came to host the show, which meant that SNL couldn't possibly have been responsible for any burgeoning popularity or Trump's humanization.
This, friends, is called a non sequitur! Both can be true at the same time! Words are fun.
”I always think it’s so funny when people talk about the idea that we somehow introduced him to America or that our show or Jimmy Fallon has humanized him,” Jost said. “[Trump’s] been on the cover of every tabloid consistently for 30 years. When he hosted last season, the worry was, ‘Would he have burned out by the time he even came to host?’ That was Lorne’s concern more than the concern of, ‘How will this help him?’”
But then, oops, Jost said he feels a little bit guilty now that Trump is President. Guess those hundreds of protestors who showed up outside SNL's studios the night Trump hosted the show weren't enough of a collective red flag to the network before the votes were cast.
“Politics right now is probably the closest we’ve come to a full-blown national phenomenon as anything in a long time, and anytime people are paying more attention to politics, it’s good for our show,” Jost said. “But you almost feel like a war profiteer at times because we’ve benefited from a situation that’s so tough.”
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