SNL’s shocking dementia joke about Trump dancing town hall
Saturday Night Live has raised eyebrows after making a dementia joke about Donald Trump dancing during his town hall appearance last week.
The NBC show presented clips of the former president jiving to various tunes during the music-laden event in Pennsylvania, before comedian Colin Jost joked that the tunes were part of a compilation called Now! That’s what I call dementia, part 1.
The SNL segment also showed Trump making questionable comments, including saying he was “surprised that Harvey Weinstein was made fun of” in a recent podcast episode, interspersed with clips of Kamala Harris giving serious speeches.
Viewers applauded the humor Tweet/X. “Good to see SNL funny again!!” one wrote, while another said, “SNL did a good job.”
Reactions to Donald Trump’s music-laden town hall in Pennsylvania include a cease and desist from one singer and praise from another
“The sickest thing about the night on #SNL was that they played a real tape of DonOLD Trump doing his demented flailing routine during what was supposed to be a Q&A event that SNL described as SPECIAL!” wrote another viewer.
“Holy s*** SNL,” said another.
Songs played for the crowd at Trump’s town hall included Pavarotti and James Brown. And finally, inevitably, the villagers sing ‘YMCA’
Trump decided to break up the town hall after several people suffered medical emergencies. At one point he shouted ‘let’s listen to music’ before playing 40 minutes of tunes.
One artist who didn’t like his music was singer Rufus Wainwright, whose cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” from the Shrek 2 soundtrack was featured.
Wainwright confirmed that Cohen’s estate’s publishing house sent the letter.
The 51-year-old singer released a longer statement on social media condemning Trump.
“Leonard Cohen’s song ‘Hallelujah’ has become an anthem dedicated to peace, love and acceptance of the truth. “I have been deeply honored over the years to be associated with this ode to tolerance,” he wrote.
“Witnessing Trump and his supporters communicating with this music last night was the height of blasphemy,” he continued, declaring he was “all in for Kamala.”
He hoped that “perhaps by inhabiting and really listening to the lyrics of Cohen’s masterpiece, Donald Trump would experience a tinge of remorse for what he has caused.” I’m not holding my breath.’
However, Victor Wilson of the Village People – who has previously protested against Trump using his music – now says he sees the positives.
“Trump’s use of ‘YMCA’ greatly benefited the song. “For example, when Trump started using ‘YMCA,’ the song shot back to No. 2 on Billboard’s digital chart,” he told TMZ.
Wilson, who also supports Harris, says he no longer has a desire to stop Trump from using it.