March 17
On This Day In 2019
Those bratty late-night comics can be so mean to a poor president.
Trump had occasionally tried to intimidate Saturday Night Live, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and others who mocked him–saying they violated the FCC’s “fairness” doctrine. OTDI 2019 he ramped it up with a tweetstorm of grievances against the late night shows, implying that his FEC and FCC should launch an investigation.
So unfair they are. Trump doesn't seem to realize that comedians have poked fun at presidents for decades. Chevy Chase grew famous for his rendition of Gerald Ford tripping on stairs in the early days of SNL. George H. W. Bush actually became friends with Dana Carvey, who impersonated him on SNL for years. And his son George W. used to laugh along with Will Farrell’s mimicry.
Needless to say, nothing ever came of this, but Trump became more thin-skinned as the years went by.
Sources/Links for further reading
USA Today reports on Trump’s SNL tweets:
MSNBC’s Morning Joe crew weighs in on the Trump and SNL brouhaha
Boingboing.net reminisces on Gerald Ford’s missteps
Summary: Trump wants to investigate SNL and other late night comedies because they make fun of him.