Donald Trump Is So Mad at Saturday Night Live That He Went on an Unhinged Rant Against the Networks

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

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Beneath all that bluster and gold-plated glamour, Donald Trump is a very sensitive man who doesn’t like it when people make fun of him—which Saturday Night Live did again over the weekend by parodying his declaration of a national emergency at the US-Mexico border:

“And now, a message from the President of the United States.” #SNL pic.twitter.com/0ccznbP6Qk
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) February 17, 2019

SNL‘s portrayal of the Trump administration has become must-watch television. But this makes Trump very sad, and he wants the networks—in this case, NBC—to step in and make it stop. On Sunday morning, Trump tweeted that it’s all “very unfair and should be looked into!”

Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC! Question is, how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many other shows? Very unfair and should be looked into. This is the real Collusion!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2019

Trump has previously threatened to sue NBC over what he calls its “one sided coverage” of him and his administration.

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?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 16, 2018

The president’s hurt feelings aside, some observers note that his repeated and public tirades against SNL are just another one of his attacks against the media, which is central to the functioning of American democracy. Trump hasn’t exactly helped dissuade that nothing, tweeting again on Sunday morning: “THE RIGGED AND CORRUPT MEDIA IS THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!”

THE RIGGED AND CORRUPT MEDIA IS THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2019