Latinos in Congress Demand Saturday Night Live Drop The Donald
A group representing Latinos in Congress is demanding that Saturday Night Live cancel Donald Trump's scheduled hosting of its next episode.
"Mr. Trump's 'racist remarks' and his continued rhetoric demonizing Latinos and immigrants has created fear within these communities around the country, many of which are represented in Congress," reads the Monday statement from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
"[T]he Congressional Hispanic Caucus urges NBCUniversal to stand by its earlier commitment to end its relationship with Mr. Trump because the values of 'respect and dignity for all people' are more important than ratings and ad revenues."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Since announcing his candidacy earlier this year, the billionaire real estate mogul has garnered controversy for his remarks about women, POWs, and Hispanics.
In his opening campaign speech, Trump described some illegal immigrants as "rapists" and has stated in recent weeks that he would deport recently arrived Middle Eastern refugees upon becoming president.
Since Trump was announced to be the host of the long-running primetime comedy series on Nov. 7, there has been much outcry and demands that SNL rescind its invitation.
Multiple online petitions have called upon NBC, which has already severed business ties with Trump over his comments, to remove him as SNL's guest host.
One petition, which is found on the website change.org, has as of Tuesday afternoon garnered over 228,000 signatories.
"On one hand, you say that respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of your values, on the other hand, you allow him to be a comedian in one of your shows and bring national attention to his bigotry," reads the petition.
"There should be zero tolerance for bigotry. We will not stand for it any longer. Cancel his appearance or we will boycott Comcast, NBC, Telemundo, USA Network, its advertisers and any other organization affiliated with Comcast."
Some, however, have argued that the demands and threatened boycotts are counterproductive and, if anything, only help the Trump campaign.
Ruben Navarrette, columnist with The Daily Beast and member of USA Today's board of contributors, wrote in a piece last week that the boycott threats are "a bad strategy."
"While justified, we have to let go of this animosity toward the Republican frontrunner. It's reactive and self-destructive," argued Navarrette.
"Worse, it has become a distraction from bigger issues that should matter more to America's largest minority — education, jobs, health care, immigration reform, public safety."
