20-05-2025
Bill Maher criticizes SNL writers for portrayal of Trump supporters
Bill Maher believes a Saturday Night Live sketch starring Tom Hanks was an example of out-of-touch, liberal writers telling a 'zombie lie' about Donald Trump's supporters. The comic, who often critiques both sides of the aisle on his weekly HBO show, took to his podcast with Jillian Michaels to slam a bit that aired during SNL's 50th anniversary special in February.
Hanks made a return in the show as Doug, a clueless rube who dons a Make America Great Again hat and performs surprisingly well on a mock game show called Black Jeopardy. Hanks first appeared as Doug on Black Jeopardy! in 2016 in an effort to depict both the differences and similarities between Trump voters and black culture. However, Maher joined the countless others who took offense at the show's portrayal of a MAGA voter, after Michaels said that while Hanks is 'lovely' in person, the sketch crossed a line.
'I hated it too, and I said it on my show. I know. I hated it. Wearing the MAGA hat, not shaking hands with a Black person. And that's when I thought, 'You people don't know MAGA people,' Maher said. 'I mean, they have their issues and I certainly have my issues with them, but they're general - I mean, of course, there's some racists everywhere who are that bad, but generally, all the MAGA people I know have no problem shaking hands with a Black person.' He described the writers of the sketch as 'hysterical' and 'not helping' their left-leaning causes and accused them of spreading a 'zombie lie,' or passing off old, outdated conventional wisdom as the truth. 'It's a lie that MAGA people won't shake hands with - I get it, it's part of a skit, and it's exaggeration, and that's comedy. It's a little too delicate a subject to just make - to go there for that one,' Maher said.
He added that, while sometimes, comedians will make a joke that they regret, the writers of the sketch likely have no issue with what they said. 'You know, look, we all in comedy step over the line sometimes or do one that they want to take back. I doubt if they want to take that one back. I think they probably think it's great,' he told Michaels. He was also offended because, 'as a liberal,' Maher believes that the premise to a joke has to have some sort of truth. 'It might have rang true, I don't know, X years ago. It doesn't now. So, you know - but that's where we are. Everybody has to just play the hate card, because that's what gets clicks. That's what gets you loved by your side,' he added.
Hanks' character was brought back for the 50th anniversary of the NBC staple , which included comedy sketches from A-listers and SNL alums including Eddie Murphy , Kristen Wiig, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Bill Murray, David Spade and Jon Lovitz. But, as MAGA fans pointed out, President Trump has since won over a diverse electorate and secured the popular vote - turning Doug into an outdated stereotype. In the new version of the sketch, Doug vehemently refused to shake hands with host Darnell Hayes played by Kenan Thompson.
Afterward, Trump fans blasted SNL and the 'Forrest Gump' star for what they viewed as an unfair portrayal. Former Robert F. Kennedy Jr. aide Link Lauren called the character 'disgusting' and accused SNL of pushing a tired, divisive narrative. 'This show wonders why their ratings are in the gutter,' he wrote. 'Trump won the popular vote. This tired trope that MAGA is racist is disgusting. SNL is an unfunny show for snobbish liberal elites.' His sentiments were echoed by other Trump supporters who flooded social media with criticism of the sketch. Right-wing influencer Dominick McGee took direct aim at Hanks, accusing him of 'just disrespecting every Republican on SNL as he was dressed up as a Trump supporter with a MAGA hat.'
Another critic pointed out what they saw as an awkward silence during the sketch, writing, 'No one in the audience laughs as Tom Hanks appears on SNL as a racist Trump supporter that refuses to shake hands with a Black man.' Trump supporters also used the moment to highlight what they claim is SNL's declining viewership . One Trump fan account wrote, 'Tom Hanks and SNL thought it would be hilarious for him to put on a MAGA hat and act out a stereotype of half the country in a desperate attempt to cope with Democrats' crushing defeat in November. Not surprising no one watches SNL or NBC anymore.'
During the rest of the three-and-a-half hour broadcast - featuring everyone from Cher to Bad Bunny , Adam Sandler and Scarlett Johansson - the star-studded cast could not help but take cheap shots at Trump. In another sketch that poked fun at 50 years of drastic changes in New York City , the cast performed a parody of famous show tune I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables. 'I dreamed a dream that King Kong died, then I remembered he's in Florida,' sung one cast member, in a thinly veiled swipe at the president who left Manhattan after his first term. The special celebrating 50 years on air poked fun at the Trump administration throughout.
