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President Donald Trump took a break from overseeing the nation to seethe on Twitter about long-running comedy show Saturday Night Live's portrayal of him.
Despite claims that he's a champion of the First Amendment, the President insinuated that SNL's portrayal of him should be tested in court:
A REAL scandal is the one sided coverage, hour by hour, of networks like NBC & Democrat spin machines like Saturday… https://t.co/334jLtwrKf— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1544968734.0
For his part, Donald Trump has hosted the show in both 2004 and 2015.
In this weekend's cold open, the latest SNL episode put a holiday twist on its usual skewering of the President with a sketch called "It's a Wonderful Trump." Following the format of It's a Wonderful Life, an angel named Clarence (played by Keenan Thompson) shows Donald Trump (played by Alec Baldwin) what the country would be like had he never been elected President.
As many can likely imagine, the country is better off.
SNL also targeted Trump in its wildly popular "Weekend Update" segment, addressing reports that Trump is confiding in his friends that he's concerned about impeachment.
While SNL certainly didn't pull punches, no one was feeling sympathetic for Trump.
@realDonaldTrump https://t.co/z5rAFlM0m8— Ben Gough-Cooper (@Ben Gough-Cooper) 1545046905.0
@realDonaldTrump Hahahaha. Making satire illegal... hahaha 😂 .... that’s a good one !!!!— Eduardo Corrochio (@Eduardo Corrochio) 1545048792.0
@realDonaldTrump This may go right over your head, but SNL is comedy and satire. Of course SNL did deliver some te… https://t.co/8FDwnC7zFP— Glenn Stevens (@Glenn Stevens) 1545050021.0
@realDonaldTrump “Did you watch the open to SNL?” https://t.co/aG4rKi9sss— Brian (@Brian) 1545047031.0
@realDonaldTrump best sketch yet! loving this season of SNL— jamie daley (@jamie daley) 1545052697.0
@realDonaldTrump Mr. President, if you would like the media and comedians to stop defaming and belittling you, stop… https://t.co/YmiagCitWj— River Banx (@River Banx) 1545039724.0
In fact, the President's rant had many chastising him for misplaced priorities.
@realDonaldTrump Cares more about being mocked by SNL than his Saudi friends taking a bone saw to a American based… https://t.co/U5XOH4nyHu— Tracy Snow (@Tracy Snow) 1545046006.0
@realDonaldTrump So relieved that you’re focused on the real issues. 🙄— Nicole (@Nicole) 1545044062.0
@realDonaldTrump Spend valuable time in bringing peace and unity rather than division and hatred. All this media st… https://t.co/JKfmxADRrh— A Podas (@A Podas) 1545048636.0
The President's feud with the late-night comedy is, unfortunately, not new at all.
Saturday Night Live's political satire has been a key ingredient of the show's success. It's never held back when portraying presidents and other ubiquitous political figures.
Yet Donald Trump seems to think they're being especially hard on him.
The President has been a regular target for SNL since the start of his 2016 Presidential campaign, played at first by Taran Killam.
Followed by Darrel Hammond.
While these portrayals were unyielding, it was Alec Baldwin's embodiment of Trump that would become the most iconic.
It was also Baldwin's portrayal that would irk Trump the most.
Alec Baldwin, whose dying mediocre career was saved by his terrible impersonation of me on SNL, now says playing me… https://t.co/Ntuy4BRXmJ— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1519988860.0
Watched Saturday Night Live hit job on me.Time to retire the boring and unfunny show. Alec Baldwin portrayal stinks. Media rigging election!— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1476616440.0
.@NBCNews is bad but Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television!— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1484520393.0
After this weekend's tweet, many are reminding Trump that SNL is, in fact, not a news show.
@realDonaldTrump When did a comedy show become news coverage? https://t.co/qIJSkVlTMV— 🌴tiffintegra🌴 (@🌴tiffintegra🌴) 1545051535.0
@realDonaldTrump Well Lord Farquaad, shall we explain satire to you now?— Tracy Long (@Tracy Long) 1545052271.0
@realDonaldTrump Dear Santa, Please bring @realDonaldTrump a dictionary for Christmas. Sincerely, #TheResistance… https://t.co/rfQgq5n7B9— SoxFan0U812🇺🇸❄️🌊 (@SoxFan0U812🇺🇸❄️🌊) 1545055248.0
@realDonaldTrump It's called "comedy". And it's protected under the first amendment. Peace— Sher Spectre (@Sher Spectre) 1545046104.0
While the President appears to think SNL's First Amendment rights are flexible, it's clear Americans are sticking by the Saturday night staple.