On Oct. 16, Donald Trump tweeted, “Watched Saturday Night Live hit job on me. Time to retire the boring and unfunny show. Alec Baldwin portrayal stinks. Media rigging election!” Though Trump’s Twitter account has provided far more controversial snippets than this selection, he used the tweet to further his ongoing narrative about media bias. In recent weeks, Trump’s denial of the validity of electoral results has rested on his claims of media bias. When he attacked “Saturday Night Live,” though, Trump brought up the often discussed question of the show’s influence on political results. Some of SNL’s most memorable characters include the show’s portrayals of political figures. Their sketches starring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin in 2008 were credited with tanking Palin’s favorability ratings ahead of the election. SNL provides interesting satirical commentary on political issues, but its ability to change the minds of voters using comedy is unlikely.
SNL has the largest impact on its audiences in terms of agenda setting. In her research on SNL’s agenda setting abilities, Elon University’s Jessica Leano stated, “Programs like ‘The Daily Show,’ ‘The Colbert Report’ and ‘Saturday Night Live’ do not directly persuade or influence viewers to support a candidate or issue, but instead plant certain ideas and concepts in their minds.” The specific issues that the show chooses to focus on will ultimately end up more prevalent in the minds of voters. Though SNL takes most of the fodder for its sketches from the mouths of the politicians themselves, they ultimately choose to include specific points. This inclusion causes the points to appear more important to viewers because they were included over other “newsworthy” issues. The sketches themselves have cultural value due to their portrayal of prevalent issues but Trump’s main concern with the quality of Alec Baldwin’s impressions is unnecessary. Like any popular entertainment entity, the sketches of SNL cause conversation about the issues they represent, but viewers are unlikely to change their vote or party allegiance because of an SNL sketch.
The most recent case of SNL’s agenda setting having a notable effect on the reputation of a politician was that of Sarah Palin. Following Tina Fey’s impression of her, Palin’s favorability ratings as rated in a Gallup poll dropped from 53 percent to a low of 41 percent. Leano explained that SNL’s spoof of Palin caused voters to look more into her personality and policies and, in the end, they found her unfavorable. Though the coverage skewered Palin heavily, her downfall was rooted in her policies and her perceived ability to do the job of vice president. SNL just magnified what she was already saying and turned it into humorous sketches, as they have done with politicians throughout American history. Trump may object to the actor’s portrayal of his mannerisms but it is meant to be comedy and it most likely will not sway his supporters in a negative fashion.
Trump has little to worry about because Americans are fairly stagnant in their political views. Sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld found people develop their political views through influence from their friends and family. Radio news programs and newspapers had little effect of voting behaviors and most people received political information from their family members and neighbors. Though an SNL sketch can bring an item to the forefront of people’s minds, their opinions on the item will likely remain unchanged. Viewers internalize the information presented on the show but their preexisting notions still shape how they feel about the program. Ultimately, Trump’s fears are unfounded because, though SNL can shape the entertainment landscape and encourage viewers to think about specific issues, it is unlikely their brand of sketch comedy will change the minds of specific voters.
Carly Mulvihill is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at c.mulvihill@cavalierdaily.com.
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