Saturday Night Live's Influence on our Next President

For many years, since 1975 to be exact, America has counted on Saturday Night Live to make politics the one thing it isn’t: funny. The sketch comedy show has never been afraid of controversial subjects or politics, with Chevy Chase impersonating a clumsy Gerald Ford the first year of the show’s production. Presidents quickly became aware of SNL’s wide reaching effects on viewers; they made cameos on the show as it gained popularity. The early 2000’s saw the height of the show's impact, with sketches of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton becoming wildly popular. SNL’s influence over the public perception has continued to increase with the over saturation of media, the convergence of news and entertainment, and the ease with which their sketches go viral, thanks to social media and the internet. 2016 will bring the next highly awaited presidential election, an election that may be heavily influenced by the show’s depiction of the candidates.

Both 2000 Presidential candidates, George W. Bush and Al Gore, saw the importance of making appearances on Saturday Night Live. At the time, Will Ferrell was impersonating Bush and Darrell Hammond impersonating Al Gore. Will Ferrell himself believes his role as Bush helped humanize him to the public and win the 2000 election. Ferrell played Bush as a dumb, hard partying, good ‘ol boy, while Darrell Hammond played Al Gore as robotic and impersonal. Will Ferrell continued playing Bush throughout his presidency, relentlessly playing up his unintelligence.

Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin character during the 2008 election period was another role to go down in political satire infamy. Fey even looked exactly like Sarah Palin, and mimicked her Canadian accent perfectly. As Fey began to impersonate Sarah Palin as a ditzy “Caribou Barbie,” public perception of Palin began to fall. She was viewed in polls as less qualified than before. Fey’s impersonation of Sarah Palin quickly cast her candidacy as a joke. It was found that some members of the public believed that Fey’s line “I can see Russia from my house!” was actually said by Palin.

As SNL has proven its ability to make or break a candidate time and again, 2016 presidential hopefuls are flocking to make their appearances, and prove they can be funny, or at least laugh at themselves. Hillary Clinton appeared on the show as a special guest on October 4, 2015, and Donald Trump hosted the show November 7, 2015. SNL newbie Kate Mckinnon has already polished her Hillary Clinton impression to perfection, while Taran Killam and Darrell Hammond have both showcased their grumpy, orange-skinned Trumps. SNL seems to have sided with Hillary Clinton; all the sketches involving her are overwhelmingly positive. One news site even called the premiere “basically a Hillary Clinton campaign ad.” Meanwhile they’ve portrayed Trump as grumpy, arrogant, and out of touch with politics, as well as made jabs at his young wife, Melania.

Saturday Night Live was the first television show to combine humor with politics, and entertainment with news. They reach a crowd that politics alone cannot. Their large reach continues to influence public perception, and as a result, impacts something as important as Presidential elections. As the 2016 Presidential election approaches, SNL will surely have much to say about the candidates.