‘SNL’s Terrible History Of Cozying Up To Its Political Targets

The early days of Saturday Night Live had it right all along. When President Gerald Ford’s press secretary, Ron Nessen, agreed to host in 1976, his intention was to use the show to fight Ford’s reputation as a dimwitted stumblebum (an image primarily created by Chevy Chase). Lorne Michaels agreed to book Nessen, but the politician probably wished he’d never set foot in 30 Rock. Even though Michaels swears it wasn’t the show’s intention, according to Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live, the cast and writers proceeded to “take the President and shove his press secretary up his ass.”

SNL’s writers admitted they were out to get The Man. The mindset, according to Rosie Shuster, was, “The President’s watching. Let’s make him cringe and squirm.” While Nessen would have refused to do political jokes at his boss’s expense, SNL ridiculed the administration in other ways, delivering one of the raunchiest shows in its history. Gilda Radner’s Emily Litella, for example, ranted about presidential erections. 

Ford was “not pleased” by the result, and his kids wrote an angry letter to Nessen telling him he’d failed at his job. Betty Ford called the show “distasteful.”

The fallout was all good for the gang at SNL, who delighted in the carnage. Skewering the powers that be was why the show existed. After all, Lorne hated the way comedian Bob Hope would make jokes about the President one day and play golf with him the next. How could Hope’s political comedy not pull punches?

What a difference a few decades make. At some point in the show’s history, Michaels decided that cozying up to the show’s satirical targets was worth the publicity, even if it meant tearing the teeth out of SNL’s political sketches. 

For example, Darrell Hammond made a meal of Al Gore during the 2000 political election, painting him as the world’s most sleep-inducing senator. But there was Gore hosting the show in 2002, successfully doing what Nessen could not by convincing America he was in on the joke.

The high-water mark in the history of SNL’s political influence may have arrived via Tina Fey’s devastating impression of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, often using verbatim quotes to highlight the Alaskan governor’s idiocy. Political polls later showed that the impression may have had a direct impact on how Americans voted.

But Michaels pulled his punches, inviting Palin to show she was a good sport. Fey was not happy, she told David Tennant, per IndieWire, and refused to appear in the same camera shot as the candidate. “I didn’t want him to have her on and I didn’t want to be in a two-shot with her, because I thought, ‘Well, that’s what they’ll show when I die.’”

Things got even uglier in 2015 when Michaels invited presidential candidate Donald Trump to host. “It was rough,” cast member Taran Killam told NPR. “It was not enjoyable at the time and something that only grows more embarrassing and shameful as time goes on.”

Did the show help Trump get elected? “There's definitely something where it normalizes him,” lamented Killam, “and it makes it OK for him to be part of the conversation.”

Writer Tim Robinson was furious about Trump’s appearance and subsequent instructions not to go too hard on the guy in sketches. “Lorne has lost his fucking mind,” Robinson allegedly said, according to Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, “and someone needs to shoot him in the back of the head.” 

SNL still hasn’t stopped snuggling the targets of its satire. After Pete Davidson made a joke about Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s eyepatch, Michaels caved to criticism and invited Crenshaw on SNL to make jokes about Davidson. Davidson was also forced to apologize on air, an act of contrition that he retracted during his comedy special, Alive From New York.

“I didn’t think I did anything wrong,” Davidson told the crowd. “The only thing I did do, which I am guilty of, and I apologize for, is I did make that guy famous and a household name for no reason.”

Michaels has shown no signs of stopping in recent years, bringing in Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Hilary Clinton and Chris Christie for affectionate pokes in the ribs. It’s all a far cry from the Nessen treatment that Lorne and the gang dished out in ‘76, when the show was hellbent on sticking it to the status quo.

When it comes to current politics, Saturday Night Live no longer has the courage to punch up, down or sideways. A vicious sketch about Pete Hegseth one Saturday night might result in the Secretary of War showing up on Weekend Update the next. Doesn’t Michaels understand this is worse than Bob Hope playing golf with the President? SNL is inviting its political enemies to join its cozy country club, a Mar-a-Lago of mirth where the most loathsome politicos are welcome to relax and enjoy the show.