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Tag: trump town hall
#EndorseThis: 'Surprise Badass' Drills Trump On SNL Town Hall

#EndorseThis: 'Surprise Badass' Drills Trump On SNL Town Hall

In the new season's funniest cold open so far, Saturday Night Live spoofs the "dueling town halls" that replaced the second Donald Trump – Joe Biden debate. As you may recall, the lineup was George Stephanopoulos (Mikey Day) hosting Biden (Jim Carrey) on ABC versus Savannah Guthrie (Kate McKinnon) hosting Trump (Alec Baldwin) on the NBC networks, with voter questions, too. The sketch shifts back and forth, like a bemused viewer changing channels.

While Stephanopoulos admits he's "going for a boring college lecture vibe," NBC's "surprise badass" Guthrie opens with a blunt warning to Trump: "We have lots of voters waiting to ask questions, but I'd like to start by tearing you a new one." And she does, repeatedly, just like in real life.

Events swiftly proceed downhill, until toward the end Kamala Harris (Maya Rudolph) shows up to try to restore order. And yes, Biden dons a cardigan, just like Mister Rogers.

It's hilarious. So if you missed it, don't.




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Trump Predicted Triumph In Town Hall Ratings -- But Biden Crushed Him

Trump Predicted Triumph In Town Hall Ratings -- But Biden Crushed Him

Donald Trump's plan to humiliate Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden by holding a competing town hall failed spectacularly, with Biden's town hall beating Trump's in the ratings, CNN's Brian Stelter reported.

Biden's event on ABC drew 13.9 million viewers, while Trump's town hall — which aired on NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC — drew a combined 13 million viewers, Stelter reported. That means Biden got more viewers on one news network than Trump received on three.

The news comes as Trump's campaign boasted that Trump would get higher ratings than Biden.

"We're gonna have a much bigger audience than Joe," Trump spokesperson Jason Miller, who has a history of adultery and failing to pay child support, told CNN ahead of the town halls.

The news is likely to enrage Trump, who is obsessed with television ratings.

Losing the ratings race is not the only problem Trump had with the town halls — which took place in lieu of a sanctioned presidential debate. The official debate was canceled after Trump was diagnosed with coronavirus and refused to hold the debate virtually.

Trump's town hall performance may not have been helpful to him as far as the viewers who did watch. A focus group with GOP pollster Frank Luntz found that those who watched Trump were turned off by his appearance, in which he refused to condemn QAnon and called his $400 million in debt "a peanut."

"My group of undecided voters say that the more Trump speaks, the worse he looks," Luntz tweeted after the town halls wrapped up.