--- description: Last night's episode of 'Saturday Night Live' mocked the new Presidential cell phone alert system, which was used for the first time Wednesday. title: 'Saturday Night Live' Shows the Dark Side of the New Presidential Alert System image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta517adf98184e8dd/69893c07e76ad225c063330e/presidential-alerts.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Saturday Night Live_ Shows the Dark Side of the New Presidential Alert System  by [Alejandro de la Garza](/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 7, 2018 4:26 PM CUT  Alex Moffat during "Emergency Alert" on Saturday, October 6, 2018 Alex Moffat during "Emergency Alert" on Saturday, October 6, 2018Getty Images  by [Alejandro de la Garza](/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 7, 2018 4:26 PM CUT Last night’s episode of [_Saturday Night Live_](http://time.com/5411043/matt-damon-mocks-brett-kavanaugh-snl/ "undefined")mocked the new [Presidential cell phone alert system](http://time.com/5414349/fema-alert/ "undefined"), which was used across the country for the first time on Wednesday. Though last Wednesday’s alert was only a test, the _SNL_ sketch portrayed some of the worst fears about the way that President Trump could use the system, and offered some alternative alerts that could come to American phones. “Failing New York _Times_ says I [cheated on taxes](http://time.com/5414950/trump-probe-owe-millions-taxes/ "undefined"). Duh! It’s called being smart,” read one alert in the sketch. The sketch played on many Americans’ skepticism that President Trump will only use the alert system in emergency situations, despite the fact that [there is a law forbidding it](http://time.com/5400574/presidential-alert-donald-trump-fema/ "undefined"). “Warning: White men are under attack,” read one fake alert. Watch the emergency alert SNL sketch here: ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5418011/saturday-night-live-presidential-alert-system/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5418011/saturday-night-live-presidential-alert-system/"},"headline":"Saturday Night Live Shows the Dark Side of the New Presidential Alert System","datePublished":"2018-10-07T16:26:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:40:18.298Z","description":"\"Failing New York Times Says I Cheated On Taxes. Duh! It's called being smart\"","url":"https://time.com/5418011/saturday-night-live-presidential-alert-system/","keywords":["Television","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta517adf98184e8dd/69893c07e76ad225c063330e/presidential-alerts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alejandro de la Garza","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta517adf98184e8dd/69893c07e76ad225c063330e/presidential-alerts.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Saturday Night Live - Season 44","caption":"Saturday Night Live - Season 44","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5418011/saturday-night-live-presidential-alert-system/","name":"Saturday Night Live Shows the Dark Side of the New Presidential Alert System"}}]}] ```