Trump complains about Saturday Night Live, again

  • 08/12/2016
Donald Trump (AAP)
Donald Trump (AAP)

US President-elect Donald Trump has doubled down on his complaining about TV show Saturday Night Live, and especially Alec Baldwin's portrayal of him, saying "the skits are terrible".

Trump, who hosted Saturday Night Live himself in November 2015 when he was running for the Republican president, has vented his anger on Twitter in recent weeks, calling the NBC show "totally unwatchable" and a "hit-job".

In an interview on US network NBC's Today show on Wednesday (local time), Trump was asked whether he had considered no longer watching it, given his complaints.

"I hosted SNL when it was a good show, but it's not a good show anymore," Trump responded.

"First of all, nothing to do with me, there's nothing funny about it. The skits are terrible."

The Republican businessman said Baldwin's depiction of him was "really mean-spirited and not very good".

Trump complains about Saturday Night Live, again

"I do like him and I like him as an actor, but I don't think his imitation of me gets me at all," the Republican added.

Baldwin, who has impersonated Trump as unprepared for office or tweeting during security briefings, tweeted back to Trump last week, "Release your tax returns and I'll stop. Ha."

Trump broke with decades of tradition followed by both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates by refusing to release his tax returns.

Saturday Night Live also parodied Trump's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, during the 2016 presidential campaign. The show has lampooned presidents and presidential candidates from both parties since it first aired 41 years ago.

Saturday Night Live has seen a rise in audiences since Baldwin joined the show in October to impersonate Trump.

But Trump countered on Wednesday, "Frankly, the way the show is going now, if you look at the kind of work they're doing, who knows how long that show's going to be on. It's a terrible show."

Reuters