SNL poses tougher questions about Trump than corporate media journalists!
These issues must be covered.
The opening sketch of Saturday Night Live this week did something that journalists have—for the most part—failed to do. That is pose vitally important questions about Donald Trump’s refusal to debate Nikki Haley and his very obvious cognitive decline. These two issues raise alarming red flags about Trump that journalists should be raising--but instead it took a comedy show.
SNL’s Cold Open featured a fictitious CNN Town Hall co-hosted by Gayle King (SNL’s Punkie Johnson) and Charles Barkley (SNL’s Kenan Thompson) with Donald Trump played by James Austin Johnson. SNL’s Trump began delivering laughs by answering questions from random South Carolina voters, for example, saying people are tired of having an “alleged criminal in the White House,” instead they “want a convicted criminal…someone they can trust to get the crimes done right.”
Then came a surprise appearance by Nikki Haley—the real one-- who was introduced as a “concerned South Carolina voter.” The former South Carolina governor immediately posed an important question to SNL’s Trump, “Why won’t you debate Nikki Haley?” That led Trump to respond, “Oh my God, it’s her. The women in charge of security on Jan 6.” This was of course referring to Trump’s mental gaffe a few weeks ago where he repeatedly told an audience that “Nikki Haley” was in charge of security on Jan 6. (Haley was not serving in any government position on Jan 6 and despite Trump’s repeated confusion, Pelosi also was not responsible for Capitol security on Jan 6.)
In response, Haley probed Trump’s mental fitness, “Are you doing OK, Donald? You might need a mental competency test.” SNL’s Trump quickly assured her that he “aced” that test and said, “They told me I’m 100% mental.”
Trump continued on to claim that women should not run our economy because they are “terrible with money,” adding to big laughs, “In fact, a woman I know recently asked me for $83 million.” (That reference was to a New York civil jury recently awarding writer E. Jean Carroll more than $83 million for Trump defaming her and denying that he had raped her.)
Both these issues—Trump’s repeated mental gaffes and refusal to debate Haley--raised by SNL for laughs also deserve serious examination. The most alarming issue is Trump’s very apparent cognitive decline that Haley has been raising as of late on the campaign trail. The list of Trump’s repeated mental slip ups is too long to ignore from mixing up names of world leaders who are his friends to where he was giving a speech and more.
Even conservative Megyn Kelly—who interviewed Trump one on one in September—recently stated on Glenn Beck’s radio show that “there’s no question that Trump has lost a step or multiple steps,” as she ticked off some of his recent mental errors including repeatedly confusing President Biden with Barack Obama
Then there is Haley’s demand Trump debate her. This is intertwined with the issue of Trump’s mental decline. If Trump were to take the debate stage, voters could see him in a live setting responding to questions, thus, enabling them to better assess his mental fitness. But Trump’s stonewalling of debates through the GOP primary has deprived the nation that opportunity. Indeed, before he dropped off from the GOP presidential race, Ron DeSantis’s campaign claimed that Trump’s declining mental acuity might be the reason “his handlers won’t let him debate.”
But with Trump, his refusal to debate raises a red flag unique to him and that is his rejection of democratic norms. Before Trump, no other modern era non-incumbent presidential candidate refused to participate in every single primary debate. And this is the same Trump who became the first President in more than 150 years to refuse to attend the swearing of his successor--which again was another rejection of a democratic norm.
Trump, however, has gone well beyond rejecting democratic norms—he rejected democracy. After the 2020 election, Trump attempted a coup and incited the Jan 6 terrorist attack in an effort to illegally remain in power despite losing. This is why Trump is now facing numerous felonies in both federal and state court. Trump’s refusal to debate Haley should be called out by journalists through the prism that he’s once again rejecting a fundamentally important trapping of democracy. This would also help further the accurate narrative that Trump rejects democracy and is a wanna be dictator.
It is more important than same may believe that SNL and late night comedians like Stephen Colbert are now increasingly raising through comedy Trump’s dangerous mental decline. Comedy reaches people who may not watch the news.
But given the 77-year-old Trump could be commander in chief if he wins in 2024, journalists must dig deeper on this topic to give voters an honest glimpse into the why behind the gaffes and continued rejection of democratic norms. The stakes are too high for our nation to allow these issues to be ignored any longer.
It will always be a mystery how anyone with more than two brain cells and even a shred of integrity could possibly consider supporting a liar, cheat, convicted fraud, convicted sexual offender, insurrectionist, and traitor like Donald Trump. It simply makes no sense whatsoever.
“Comedy reaches people who may not watch the news.” So true Dean! Even back in the day, corporate media wasn’t so great, so my husband and I were drawn to shows like SNL, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, L’il Bush, etc., there were some great ones! I guess we were getting news items from those outlets subconsciously! The delivery of (factual) news through a comedic lens broke down the facts for us in a digestible way, so we could absorb what was really happening within any subject. Comedy has always existed to be a brilliant voice for the truth.