Saturday Night Live let the air out of Donald Trump’s victory balloons in a series of political skits. The show opened with Trump (Darrell Hammond) touting the dubious diversity of his supporters.
“The media’s saying they haven’t seen anything like this. Not since Germany in the 1930s,” the presidential candidate explains. “I mean, everyone loves me. Racists, ugly racists, people who didn’t even know they were racists.”
The theme continued with a Trump campaign ad that asks why people support Trump. The commercial stars a conspicuous amount of white people (Taran Killam, Vanessa Bayer, Bobby Moynihan, Aidy Bryant, Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney). They all cite Trump’s business acumen as the reason for their support but as the camera pans out it’s revealed that they are members of the Ku Klux Klan.
The biting criticism is a reference to a CNN interview, in which Trump refused to disavow an endorsement by David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the KKK. He later blamed it on a bad earpiece despite repeating the question virtually verbatim.
“I know nothing about David Duke. I know nothing about white supremacists…” Trump argued. “You wouldn’t want me to condemn a group I know nothing about.”
Trump often praises the loyalty of his supporters but it’s his loyalty to them regardless of who they are that trumps his wins.