Lorne Michaels To SNL Cast: Don’t ‘Vilify’ Trump
“Saturday Night Live” creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels allegedly told the cast to tone down criticism of President Trump back when he was a candidate, The Hill reported Friday.
Michaels suggested they “make him likable” and don’t “vilify him,” former SNL actor Taran Killam revealed on an episode of the “I Was There Too” podcast, where he talked about what the energy was like on set leading up to the 2016 presidential election.
The comedian played Trump on the show before he left in August 2016, according to the Hill.
Killam recalled what Michaels said: “He’s like any New York taxi driver … He just says whatever it is he’s thinking. You have to find a way in that makes him likable.”
Michaels, who is Jewish, gave the pep talk before he made the controversial decision to invite Trump to host the show in 2015, according to Vulture.
Killam has been vocal about his contempt for that decision.
“It was rough,” he said last year. “It was not enjoyable at the time and something that only grows more embarrassing and shameful as time goes on.”
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30