Why That ‘SNL’ Tom Hanks MAGA Sketch Matters
Viral video captures what's intellectually dishonest about show in 21st century
The backlash against Tom Hanks’ “Saturday Night Live” Black Jeopardy sketch hit social media in a hurray.
The backlash to the backlash was just as swift.
Hanks brought back his Trump voter character during “SNL50: The Anniversary Special.” The Oscar winner originally played the fictional Doug in a 2016 “Black Jeopardy” sketch.
At the time, Doug retreated when the show’s black host, played by Kenan Thompson, tried to shake Doug’s hand after the two agreed on a point. It’s because he can’t imagine shaking a black person’s hand without fearing the worst.
Get it?
At the time, it played off the Left’s willingness to stereotype Trump voters as racist. Clear as day.
The new sketch featured different performers, including “SNL” legend Eddie Murphy imitating Tracy Morgan. The joke? The real Tracy Morgan stood to Murphy’s right.
And, again, when Thompson’s character tried to shake Doug’s hand he backed away, afraid he might be robbed, hurt, or worse.
Get it?
Plenty has changed since the original sketch aired. President Trump expanded his base, increasing the number of minority supporters. He made significant inroads with Latino voters and drew more black men to his cause during his third and final presidential campaign.
Snoop Dogg, who previously imagined Trump being executed in a music video, performed during his inauguration festivities. So did Nelly.
The joke was wobbly in 2016. Now, it doesn’t pass the smell test. Even “SNL’s” liberal live audience failed to respond.
On cue, far-Left media outlets pounced on conservative reaction to the sketch.
MAGA’s maniacal reaction to Tom Hanks proves they are his ‘SNL’ character – AZ Central
Right-leaning media melts down over ‘SNL’ skit not long after saying Americans are too sensitive – CNN
MAGA Melts Down Over Tom Hanks Playing Racist Trump Fan on SNL50 – The Daily Beast
MAGA Couldn’t Handle Tom Hanks Playing a Racist Trumper on ‘SNL’ – Rolling Stone
Even some conservatives, in the words of Taylor Swift, suggested their peers need to “calm down.”
I’ll never understand sore winners. MAGA has been getting exactly what they wanted for a solid month now, and it’s still not enough.https://t.co/GYFSSvN1Ab pic.twitter.com/989rThm7hO
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) February 19, 2025
Saturday Night Live didn’t humiliate conservatives — social media influencers did, whipping their audiences into a frenzy and making them seem like humorless scolds. | @GiancarloSopo https://t.co/RR2vvGnlH3
— National Review (@NRO) February 19, 2025
Meanwhile, Megyn Kelly and Joy Behar agreed (for once!) that the sketch mocked MAGA voters as racist.
They’re right.
It’s impossible to view the new sketch without considering the context. “SNL” has been hammering the Left’s “Trump is Racist” narrative ever since he entered the political scene.
Hanks is a Biden supporter who looked past the leader’s obvious decline to record a video touting the addled president’s one-year “accomplishments.”
“SNL” lacks ideological diversity. Period. Its comedy can be ugly, too. Ignorant. We’re allowed to say so.
No one on the Right is calling for “SNL” to be censored. To note the obvious isn’t being a snowflake or part of the alleged “woke right.” It’s calling out an intellectually dishonest show that long ago shed its legacy.
I dunno, man, that Tom Hanks sketch made me laugh and SNL hasn’t made me laugh in 30 years. One sided? Sure. But we all know at least one guy that’s like that.
And we all know the one guy down the street that can do the same job for $40 bucks. I lost it right there.
50 years of SNL? uggh… Haven’t watched or paid any attention to them in 30 years. The show stopped being funny in 1995… SNL should have euthanized a long time ago.
Dude. NOTHING on SNL “matters” in the least.
Tom Hanks’ SNL skit was in very poor taste, but I really don’t care. No boycotts need to be launched against a non-funny show that I haven’t bothered to watch in 30 years. It will be forgotten about in a couple of weeks if not days.
The Left invented Racism. The KKK was started by Democrats. Abraham Lincoln was a Republican and his opponent, the Democrat, ran on a Pro-Slavery platform. Even Malcolm X recognized it and said “The White liberal is the worst enemy to America and the worst enemy to the Black man.” The plantation owners of the southern colonies would become the American Democrats. History is a harsh reality. Conservatives are not angry at being called racists by Tom Hanks, SNL, et al. We are outraged by the bald-faced lie.
I think the LEFT is much more RACIST than the right has ever been. Look no further than the DEMOcrat “leaders” in Congress – the POC’s are the most OUTWARD Racists I’ve ever seen. Hanks is a great actor – no doubt – but he’s very delusional about Americans who just want people to be DECENT! We don’t care what your skin color happens to be – we don’t care who you Love – we don’t care what foods you eat! What we DO care about is that YOU take care of YOUR families – YOU obey our laws – YOU respect the LIVES and properties of others – YOU keep your hands and perverted ideologies OUT of our classrooms – and YOU don’t force your insanity on society!
Fairly simple really!
I couldn’t agree more. The Left has an OBSESSION with skin color that would make some of the very people they claim as heroes of theirs say, “I didn’t sign up for this”…………. because they didn’t
Humor works best when it’s adjacent to (an exaggeration of, an inverse of) a nugget of truth. “Trump supporters are by-and-large racist” is simply false
That’s a great point. Satire requires the DNA of truth to work. If not … it fails.
Exactly why Eddie Murphy’s Tracy Morgan impression was so funny!
Hey left wing radical democrats, I’ll make you a deal, you do your thing and I’ll watch what I want. And it won’t be you. hell, hanks goes on trips with the obama’s. clooney is a left clown living in Lake Como. Pitt is a dope looking for adults to occupy the white house again. give me a break.
Whether it’s worth getting mad about or not, the biggest problem is that it just isn’t funny.
There’s no joke here. There’s no punchline. Just an insult.
So if you’re going to insult me, I’ll just change the channel and watch something else. We have an entire eco-system of content now on Youtube and other venues that won’t insult us, so we’ll just take our eyes and ears over there.
Youtube is non stop leftist drivel, if you are there you are being insulted
There aren’t enough hours in the day for me to list all the right-wing content you can find on Youtube. Perhaps you should do some research.