--- title: Donald Trump on SNL: You Know You Want to Watch description: And maybe you should vote for him, too canonical: https://time.com/4102387/jim-norton-donald-trump-snl/ author: Jim Norton article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-06T13:50:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:39:48.168Z article:section: Ideas og:title: You Know You Want to Watch Donald Trump Host SNL og:description: And maybe you should vote for him, too og:url: https://time.com/4102387/jim-norton-donald-trump-snl/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa79a18dbff83268/69886e72cd1bba9fd56fdd72/gettyimages-138441705.jpg?branch=production&width=840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 840 og:image:height: 473 og:image:alt: Saturday Night Live og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: You Know You Want to Watch Donald Trump Host SNL twitter:description: And maybe you should vote for him, too twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa79a18dbff83268/69886e72cd1bba9fd56fdd72/gettyimages-138441705.jpg?branch=production&width=840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # You Know You Want to Watch Donald Trump Host SNL > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=7cd32936-613f-415a-a56a-b2d64a89ae22&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch Donald Trump Try to Tell Jokes [Watch (HLS stream): Watch Donald Trump Try to Tell Jokes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ArqqEjqK.m3u8) (1:52)  _Published 2015-11-06. Ahead of Trump's SNL appearance_ by [Jim Norton](https://time.com/author/jim-norton/) ## Jim Norton Nov 6, 2015 1:50 PM UTC by [Jim Norton](https://time.com/author/jim-norton/) ## Jim Norton Nov 6, 2015 1:50 PM UTC Donald Trump is hosting _Saturday Night Live_ this week, and love him or hate him, you have to admit he’s the only candidate who will actually do it well. SNL’s present cast is excellent, and Trump has hosted before. Watching any of those other painfully banal candidates attempt to deliver punch lines would be excruciating at best. That’s not to say he has a limitless sense of humor about himself. When Seth Meyers was beautifully mocking him at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Trump looked like he was watching ISIS videos in an IMAX 3-D Theater. Predictably, there is outrage that he is hosting, and some have called him a racist and an idiot. Others will make hacky, predictable hair jokes. I am willing to admit I have nothing original to say about his hair. And neither do you. Let’s move on already. Maybe I’m just biased because I like Trump and intend to vote for him. The thing that attracts me to him is what a wonderful mirror he is to how bad the other candidates are. It seems the best way to observe how flat and dead most politicians are is to put them in close proximity of someone who is alive. That doesn’t mean I think he’s always right; I just think he’s honest. Someone who is lying wouldn’t say, “They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people” when referring to Mexican immigrants. Nor would they talk about John McCain getting “captured” in a ridiculing tone. McCain did almost six years in a POW camp; Donald took a deferment because of his feet. (If the feet excuse didn’t keep Oscar Pistorius out of prison, it shouldn’t have kept Trump out of Vietnam.) These are both comments that would have ruined any other candidate even after they immediately feigned sincerity and apologized. One of my favorite qualities about Trump is he seems to be the only person in either party with enough of a spine to push back against the endless, deafening whine of American hypersensitivity. Even the most seasoned politicians should take note; Trump’s unwillingness to be cowed for his opinions is a more respected quality than any of their takes on any of the issues. This current crop of candidates is so pitiful that a man whose catch phrase was “You’re fired” has compelled every one of them to change the way they communicate publicly. They are trying so hard to match his brutal honesty and perceived fearlessness of missteps. And watching them trying to compete with his energy is simply embarrassing at this point. Just because I’ll vote for Trump doesn’t mean I’m unaware of his shortcomings. I wish he’d stop saying he’s going to “make America great again.” It’s not that I object to the sentiment; I would just like to see him go a little deeper into the issues. I feel as if we’ve been dating for three months and he can’t think of anything more substantive to say to me than, “You’re pretty!” The last thing Trump needs to do is start being evasive and vague because he’s worried about giving the wrong answers. Because his willingness to give honest answers, even when they’re wrong, is what people loved about him in the first place ## Transcript Trump! Trump! Trump. Trump. [ APPLAUSE ] Jeb? You remember Jeb? Do you remember him? [ LAUGH ] They said to Jeb Bush, he was like this. [ LAUGH ] They said, are you having fun? Yes. [ MUSIC ] Jeb Bush, lets say he's president eh ye ye. I'm a business man I get along with everybody that was my job, to get along with people. But the simple fact is >> Excuse me, one second. No. The simple fact is you can not take [ LAUGH ] Look. They say no, no, no. You can't build that military base. There's a snail in the way. We give state dinners to the heads of China. I say, why are you doing state dinners for them? They're ripping us left and right. Just take them to McDonald's and go back to the negotiating table. Seriously. I mean, if you're a poker player and you're predictable, you're not going home with much money. I never attacked him on his look and believe me there's plenty of subject matter right there. Oh Don you're a little controversial. You're talking about illegal immigration. I said it's illegal. I'll be the greatest jobs president that God ever created, I will, but everybody knows that. [ UNKNOWN ] Especially God. I'm gonna build a wall, it's gonna be a great wall. It's not gonna be a little wall, it's gonna be a big beautiful wall cause someday it's gonna be named after me, probably. And I wanna make sure it looks good. Come in. Come all in. We're stupid, we'll take care of you. We'll pay. I'm using my own money. I'm not using the lobbyist, i'm not using donors. I don't care. I'm really rich. I'll share that, and that's it. You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals. Your Twitter account [ CROSSTALK ] Only Rosie O'Donnell. She's married to Anthony Weiner. You know, the little bing, bing, bing, bong, bong. 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