On Tuesday morning, NBC announced that Donald Trump would be the host of Saturday Night Live on November 7. Shortly afterward, Trump confirmed the announcement on his Twitter account and expressed his excitement.
It was just announced that I will be hosting Saturday Night Live on Nov. 7th — look forward to it! http://t.co/D74EQyvR0P
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2015
Trump seemed an odd choice, if only because in June NBCUniversal, responsible for Trump’s hit show The Apprentice and a stakeholder in the Miss Universe Organization, announced with much fanfare that it was cutting ties with the real state mogul and GOP candidate, following his controversial comments describing Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals.
“At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values,” the network said in a press release. “Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump.”
Trump retorted that NBC was “weak” and “foolish” for not understanding the “serious illegal immigration problem” facing the United States.
This afternoon, Fox News’ Shepard Smith weighed in on Trump’s SNL invite, tearing into the network for cutting business ties to Trump but inviting him to host the popular show. “Nice job, NBC,” Smith said. “You made a stand, you stood for your values, you did what you must, forget the money, no more Trump! Except, more Trump. Dumb, dumb, dumb.”
Neither the Trump campaign nor NBC Universal responded to a request for comment. We’ll update the post if we hear back.