Was ‘SNL’ Out of Line To Mock The Assassination Attempts Against Donald Trump?

Last week, we previewed the upcoming 50th season of “Saturday Night Live.” We predicted, among other items, that the show would poke fun at the assassination attempts against Donald Trump.

And that it did.

Here’s James Austin Johnson depicting Trump during the cold open:

“Where the hell is everyone going? Where are you going? I see you trying to leave, but the doors are locked. Come on back — we’re having fun. We love my rallies, except when someone does the ‘bing, bong, bing, bing, bing’ right at me.

“You know that happened because of the rhetoric of the radical left. They say that me blaming the Democrats for inciting violence is the pot calling the kettle black.”

Later, as JD Vance approached the stage, Trump walked away – with the bulletproof glass:

The Trump campaign responded to the spoof on social media.

“There were two assassination attempts against President Trump within a span of seven weeks,” Trump War Room posted on X. @nbcsnl apparently finds that funny. Disgusting.”

Former NBCUniversal senior executive Mike Sington also criticized the bit. 

“I was watching it live, and actually cringed when they mocked the assassination attempts in an effort to be funny. I’m no fan of Trump’s, but I thought it was in extremely poor taste,” Sington told Fox News Digital.

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — Episode 1865 — Pictured: (l-r) Bowen Yang as JD Vance and James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump during the “Campaign” Cold Open on Saturday, September 28, 2024 — (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images)

We argued during our “SNL” preview that referencing the assassination attempts against Trump was fine. “SNL” is a sketch comedy show with an emphasis on current events. No news story should be off-limits in the genre of satire. 

Satire is supposed to make viewers cringe.

The issue is that “SNL” primarily targets only one side of the political aisle. The show could’ve argued it was “just trying to be funny” had it mocked Kamala Harris and Tim Walz with equally harsh humor.

That didn’t happen.

“SNL” could have spoofed Harris for using Willie Brown to advance her political career, neglecting the Southern border, or riding a coup to the top of the Democratic ticket. 

Walz put tampons in boys’ bathrooms, deserted his soldiers in combat zone, and let cities in Minnesota burn in the name of George Floyd. Yet the show referenced none of that.

The material was there. “Saturday Night Live” just chose not to use it. 

Thus, comedy bits about people trying to murder Trump don’t sit as well with viewers.

Plus, the segment wasn’t that funny. If you are going to make fun of assassination attempts against a former president, at least be funny.