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UPDATE #2 (1:01 A.M.): This week’s episode, hosted by Dave Chappelle and featuring musical guest A Tribe Called Quest, was one of the best of the season, but Alec Baldwin did not appear on the show as Donald Trump. Will he be back next week or is he done for good? We’ll soon find out!
UPDATE (11:34 P.M.): Alec Baldwin did NOT appear as Donald Trump in the cold open of tonight’s episode of Saturday Night Live for the first time this season. Instead, Kate McKinnon sang a cover of the late Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” as Hillary Clinton. Will he show up at all tonight? It remains to be seen. We’ll keep this updated.
After making headlines for the last six weeks for his portrayal of Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, the gravity of Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in this week’s presidential election apparently proved to be too much for Alec Baldwin. In a surprise, unannounced twist, the volatile funnyman did NOT appear at the dress rehearsal of tonight’s Saturday Night Live, the first to air since Tuesday’s election.
Twitter user @ERanglero, who attended tonight’s dress rehearsal, confirmed the news on Twitter:
So who played Trump? The same Twitter user said Trump was left out of the show entirely.
It remains to be seen whether Baldwin will appear on the live show, which airs at 11:30 p.m. tonight.
Alec Baldwin made huge waves in the comedy world back on September 28 when it was announced that Lorne Michaels had tapped Baldwin to portray Donald Trump during the first batch of episodes of the 42nd season of SNL. The move was not without its controversy; not only did Michaels’ move alienate Darrell Hammond (whose impression of Trump throughout Season 41 was nothing short of masterful), but Baldwin came under fire from some members of the comedy community for copying“borrowing” a line reading from fellow Trump impressionist Anthony Atamaniuk. Most SNL viewers didn’t seem to care, though, as the show scored its best premiere ratings in 8 years.
Baldin admitted during an interview that aired on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show that he was “trying to shed the Donald Trump cloak.”
While no one expected Baldwin to portray Trump on everyone episode of SNL for the next four years —no specifics regarding Baldwin’s agreement with Lorne Michaels ever publicly emerged— the fact that he bailed so quickly is yet another example of how little the liberal media establishment thought of Trump’s chances to win the presidency. Donald Trump, who complained that Baldwin’s impression of him was “inaccurate”, has got to be thrilled that he has vanquished yet another one of his enemies.
