Alec Baldwin’s latest turn as Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live featured a brilliantly clever reflection of the truth about those who voted for Donald Trump. No matter how much Trump hurts them, his voters still support him.
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As Baldwin’s Trump was speaking to his supporters in Kentucky, he was told that a supporter on Obamacare had to drive 90 minutes to see a doctor and his premiums were high. Trump’s answer was to get rid of the man’s health care. A Trump supporter who complained that his wife wouldn’t move because she was participating in a federal opioid rehab program, was greeted with a presidential solution of getting rid of the program. A woman who worked two minimum wage jobs and had an underwater mortgage was told by the president that he was going to abolish the minimum wage and take away her house.
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All of Trump’s “solutions” would harm his supporters, but each one of them continued to voice their support for the president.
Political scientists have studied for decades why some people vote against their self-interest. Many supporters of President Trump are a textbook example of a riddle that both academics and Democrats have tried to solve.
Many Trump voters continue to support the president, even though his policies are harming them. The message behind the comedy was that Trump isn’t going to help these people, but due to blind partisanship, these folks aren’t going to leave Trump’s side.
It is folly for some on the left to think that they can flip Trump’s die hard supporters by talking about economic policies. Many of these people will never vote for a Democrat because they aren’t making their decisions based on rational self-interest or policy.
Alec Baldwin was his usual dead on self with his Trump impression, but this SNL Trump sketch was different from many others because the president wasn’t portrayed as an in over his head buffoon. In this parody, Trump knows exactly what he is doing, and it doesn’t matter to his supporters that all of his solutions are bad for them.
The Saturday Night Live sketch was a smart commentary on both Donald Trump and the blind partisanship that keeps his supporters with him, no matter how low this goes.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
