Wednesday, February 15, 2017

SNL finds a spicy groove in satirizing the Trump administration

Riley Brennan
Features and A&E editor

On the SNL episode that aired on February 4, actress and comedian Melissa Mccarthy, portrayed President Trump’s Press Secretary Sean Spicer in a skit. The skit was then posted to the show’s Youtube account, where it has raked in over 23 million views, and counting. Despite the abrasive character Mccarthy plays, Spicer’s response was more lighthearted than one would expect after seeing the temperament of Mccarthy’s Spicer. When E News asked Spicer what he thought of the skit, he responded, “I think Melissa Mccarthy needs to slow down on the gum chewing...way too many pieces in there.”

 Due to the success of the skit, Melissa came back as a guest star to open the show the following Saturday, once again playing Sean Spicer. Alec Baldwin hosted the show, who has been a guest star on the show quite often, starting months before the actual election, playing Donald Trump. Thanks to Baldwin and Mccarthy, the episode was full of political skits, “featuring” the president, Vladimir Putin, Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer, and more. SNL has always featured political skits and sketches, though Donald Trump does not appreciate the ones that feature him, having tweeted many insults aimed at the show. This past January, following an SNL skit featuring him, tweeting, @NBCNews is bad but Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television!”. The backlash has yet to cause SNL to stop using Trump as a character on the show.