News

Donald Trump's Strange Tweet Questioning If 'SNL' Is Committing "Collusion?" Is A Lot

by Lizzy Rosenberg

On Dec. 15, Saturday Night Live's last episode of 2018 started out with a cold open aimed at President Donald Trump, and from the looks of Twitter, it seems as though he wasn't too excited about it. Between the show's "It's A Wonderful Trump" cold open, as well as the usual barbs during "Weekend Update," the holiday episode of the sketch show didn't seem to sit well with POTUS. Anyway, if you haven't already seen Donald Trump's tweet About SNL after an episode criticizing his presidency, it's a lot to take in.

In the morning hours of Sunday, Dec. 16, Trump took to Twitter to share some thoughts about a "REAL scandal" he thinks needs more coverage, and (surprise, surprise) SNL was on the receiving end of his ire. Trump wrote:

A REAL scandal is the one sided coverage, hour by hour, of networks like NBC & Democrat spin machines like Saturday Night Live. It is all nothing less than unfair news coverage and Dem commercials. Should be tested in courts, can’t be legal? Only defame & belittle! Collusion?

Now, Trump didn't mention the Dec. 15 episode or point out a specific sketch, but his tweet did come on the heels of Saturday night's episode, so there is a good chance he wasn't thrilled with it. Elite Daily reached out to the White House for further comment on and clarification of President Trump's tweet, but did not hear back at the time of publication. Elite Daily also reached out to SNL for comment on the President's claim of collusion in his tweet, but did not hear back at the time of publication.

It's no secret that Trump isn't a fan of the show, as evidenced by his previous angry reactions to SNL, but he went a little bit further than usual buy suggesting the show is guilty of collusion. Even though Trump didn't point out the show's It's A Wonderful Life-inspired sketch called "It's A Wonderful Trump," he probably wasn't thrilled with the skit that imagined a world where Donald Trump never became president, á la George Bailey's experience in the classic Christmas film.

While I chuckled at Alec Baldwin's portrayal of the President throughout the entire cold open, I don't think POTUS found it quite as funny. In it, Trump (played by Alec Baldwin) sees what life would have been like if he hadn't become president by winning the 2016 presidential election. In the alternate reality, Hillary Clinton won the 2016 election by "[visiting] Wisconsin once," per Keenan Thompson's angel character. Ouch. Sarah Sanders (portrayed by Aidy Bryant) was doing public relations for Facebook, Ashley Madison, and "the romaine lettuce association." (LOL.)

Also happening in SNL's interpretation of a world where Trump wasn't president, Robert De Niro made his return as Robert Mueller to let Baldwin's Trump know that he was spending more time with his grandson, since he no longer had to put in so many hours for the Russia investigation. President Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion in the 2016 presidential election and calls the Special Counsel's investigation a "witch hunt."

SNL even went so far as to show a "Muslim immigrant from Syria" finding a "permanent solution for hair loss," in a nod to Trump's Executive Order 13769, aka the Muslim ban (an April 10, 2018 Presidential Proclamation removed Chad from the list of countries with travel restrictions, but seven countries remain with travel restrictions), shortly after assuming office in 2017. Closing out the skit with a nod to the film's classic line, Kate McKinnon's Kellyanne Conway said, "Every time a bell rings, someone you know quits… or goes to jail."

Check it out in the video, below.

Seeing as though on Dec. 12, Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen was sentenced to 3 years in prison, following his guilty pleas for financial crimes, per CNN, it might be that last line from McKinnon's Conway that struck a nerve with Trump. Elite Daily reached out to representatives for Cohen regarding the sentence and whether he will continue to cooperate in the hopes of further reducing his sentence.

In August, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts of financial fraud, including illegal campaign violations. Cut to November, and he also pleaded guilty to lying to Congress in a filing brought by Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign and Russia. Elite Daily reached out to Cohen's representatives for comment at the time of the plea deal, but did not hear back in time for publication. As for what was revealed in the plea deal, The New York Times reported that Cohen pleaded guilty to making "false statements to Congress" regarding plans for a Trump Tower deal in Moscow, Russia, during the 2016 presidential election. The White House did not immediately respond to Elite Daily's request for comment on Cohen's plea deal.

It was only over a week ago that the Special Counsel's Office shared in a sentencing memo on Dec. 7 that Cohen had given Mueller's team "useful information concerning certain discrete Russia-related matters core to" the investigation into possible Russian collusion. Elite Daily reached out to representatives of Cohen for further comment, but did not immediately hear back.

With all of those recent developments, it seems that SNL's Dec. 15 episode may have affected President Trump more than usual. With no new episodes coming until the new year, you'll have to wait and see if SNL is soon on the receiving end of any more angry tweets from POTUS.