Yahoo Lifestyle MAGA Outrage Over Tom Hanks’ ‘SNL50’ Sketch Is Understandable, Says Joy Behar: They Made ‘Anyone Who Voted for Trump Look Like a Racist’
Tom Hanks’ surprise appearance at “SNL50” sparked Republican backlash on social media, but some outspoken Democrats such as “The View” co-host Joy Behar understand the outrage. Hanks popped up as Donald Trump supporter Doug during the anniversary show’s “Black Jeopardy” sketch, a character he first played on “SNL” eight years ago. Sporting a red MAGA hat, Doug freaks out when Kenan Thompson’s “Black Jeopardy” host goes to shake his hand.
“The fact remains that they’re making anyone who voted for Trump look like a racist, and that’s why they’re mad,” Behar said about the backlash. “I personally would never do that, because I don’t believe that any group is one thing.”
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“A lot of these people [who voted for Trump], in my opinion, have been misled,” she continued. “They thought that grocery prices would come down. They’re up. They thought inflation was coming down. It’s up. They thought that Medicaid was safe. It’s not. They thought Social Security was safe. It’s not. So it’s not only racism that caused Trump to be in office. We have to remember that. So of course they’re going to be insulted.”
Behar’s “The View” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin previously worked in Trump’s White House and said she “personally thinks the outrage over it is a little overblown.”
“Saturday Night Live” alum Victoria Jackson told TMZ that she was upset by Hanks’ appearance, and she pointed to comments made by political commentator Link Lauren on X that called the sketch “disgusting.”
“Tom Hanks just came out on ‘SNL’ in a MAGA hat for a bit where he acted like he didn’t want to shake a Black man’s hand,” Lauren posted. “This show wonders why their ratings are in the gutter. Trump won the popular vote. This tired trope that MAGA is racist is disgusting. ‘SNL’ is an unfunny show for snobbish liberal elites. The current Republican Party is a big tent coalition compromised (sic) of many former Democrats. Good riddance, ‘SNL!'”
Watch Hanks’ appearance in the “SNL50” sketch for “Black Jeopardy” in the video below.
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