Donald Trump makes it a habit to complain about Saturday Night Live, but his most recent beef with the show combines two of his most infamous traits: irredeemable sexism, and a thin skin.
(Tell SNL: We want Rosie to play Steve Bannon.)
We’re told that Trump was upset about Melissa McCarthy’s recent portrayal of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Politico reported that it may have damaged Spicer’s “longevity,” adding: “More than being lampooned as a press secretary who makes up facts, it was Spicer's portrayal by a woman that was most problematic in the president's eyes, according to sources close to him … ‘Trump doesn't like his people to look weak,’ added a top Trump donor.”
Trump is so sexist he makes a night with the Rat Pack seem like a sensitivity training seminar.
A number of people had the same reaction to Trump’s response: If his lieutenants can be damaged in his eyes by being portrayed by a woman, isn't it time to bring in Rosie O'Donnell?
Trump and O'Donnell have been feuding for years. He has insulted her in personal and offensive ways, a practice that continued well into his campaign for the presidency.
Rosie clearly gets under Trump’s skin, so she’s the perfect choice to lampoon his administration. The question was briefly raised, Should she play Steve Bannon or Trump himself? But a Trump imitation would be seen as payback for past insults. A Bannon routine is a much better idea.
It certainly makes sense strategically. Bannon has far too much influence. He is, by far, the president's most dangerous appointee. His ruthlessness, his bigotry and white nationalism, his deep hatred of a free press, his thirst for war with China, and his long-standing crusade against a world religion make him a threat to peace and prosperity both at home and abroad.
According to many reports, Bannon is now Trump’s most trusted advisor.
What better way to end Bannon’s stranglehold on the executive branch than by feminizing him in the eyes of the Misogynist-in-Chief? Trump will know that it's being done to drive a wedge between them. But it will work anyway. Once he watches Steve Bannon being played by Rosie O'Donnell – and you know he'll watch, because he can't help himself – he will never see his advisor the same way again.
At different moments throughout the day – in a meeting, chatting in the hallway, or in his office as Bannon leans over his desk to point out something on a piece of paper – Trump will look up at his Red State Rasputin and see … a woman. Worse, he'll see a woman he hates. Rosie O'Donnell's eyes will stare at him from Steve Bannon's face all day long.
It could change the course of history.
Besides, I want to see Rosie play Bannon. I think she could nail him. She could capture Bannon’s self-indulgence and self regard, along with the loathing for all living things that seem to underlie them.
I think it would be a hoot.
Normally, I'm not one to tell creative people how to do their jobs. But these are extraordinary times. Our national security is at stake.
Rosie says she'll do it. “Of course I would,” she said, adding in a tweet: “If called I will serve.”
They say that war is too important to be left to the generals. At this moment in American history, comedy is too important to be left to the comedians. Let them know by signing the petition: Rosie O'Donnell must play Steve Bannon, while the republic yet stands.
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