It’s difficult to believe that it has already been two seasons since Donald Trump hosted “Saturday Night Live,” but oh how things have changed.
In November 2015, the current President awkwardly mocked Drake’s “Hotline Bling” and spun together a fairy tale presidency in which the wall was successful and everything was great! People uncomfortably laughed, because they sincerely believed that he wouldn’t win.
Again, oh how things have changed.
Trump's disdain towards 'SNL' aids edge to Alec Baldwin's impression
Well, the cast of “Saturday Night Live” has long ago moved on from sharing a stage with the President to being a recipient of some of his harsher tweets. In October of 2016, he tweeted, “Watched Saturday Night Live" hit job on me. Time to retire the boring and unfunny show. Alec Baldwin portrayal stinks. Media rigging election!”
Apparently, the media didn’t do a good enough job at rigging the election, because “SNL” and Alec Baldwin still find themselves mocking Donald Trump, although now he is no longer a metaphor for the disjointed Republican Party but the leader of the free world.
'SNL' doesn't hold back in premiere
“Saturday Night Live” started off with a political cold, as they usually do, criticizing the President for his poor response to Hurricane Maria and utilizing Kate McKinnon’s stellar Jeff Sessions impression. Fresh off of an Emmy win, people can expect to see Alec Baldwin’s Trump impression up until the day he leaves office (whether that be next week or in four years, who knows), but it’s an extra bonus to know that not only is Trump probably watching “SNL,” he is hating Baldwin’s impression.
The cold open checks off the usual jokes, Trump returning from a golf Trump, Trump screwing up another phone call with a foreign leader, but it’s Weekend Update where “SNL” really takes their swings at the President.
Michael Che’s jokes are laced with anger when he goes off at the President for his poor performance in the past month alone. Between DACA, Hurricane Maria, and the NFL, the president has been nothing if not awful. As Che said, “it’s like when anyone darker than your golf pants has a problem, you’re thinking, how can I make this worse?”
Colin Jost also got his shots in at the President, eliciting some groans from the audience when he quipped “It took George W. Bush five years to get his Katrina” after railing at Trump’s Hurricane Maria response.
Overall, “Saturday Night Live” has seen greater nights than last night’s premiere, even on the political front. However, they set a harsh and critical tone for this season’s treatment of President Trump and it will be exciting to see how Alec Baldwin and “SNL” tackle whatever sh*tstorm comes next.