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Was Leslie Jones’s impersonation of Donald Trump on ‘SNL’ a shot at his ‘fragile masculinity?’

How does Trump feel about being played by a woman?

 

Josh Katzowitz

IRL

Posted on Feb 12, 2017   Updated on May 25, 2021, 12:31 am CDT

When Melissa McCarthy first impersonated White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer earlier this month on Saturday Night Live, the Donald Trump administration was reportedly upset. Not because the sketch blasted Spicer so handily, but, according to Politico, Trump was mostly mad because Spicer was lampooned by a woman.

Is that report the reason SNL brought back McCarthy for its cold open on Saturday? And is it the reason new Attorney General Jeff Sessions was played by Kate McKinnon? And is it the reason Leslie Jones starred in the sketch below on Saturday?

SNL featured player Melissa Villaseñor even asks Jones during the sketch, “So, is this, like, a sendup of his fragile masculinity?”

“Nope,” Jones said, “it’s about giving America what it wants.”

During the first few weeks of his presidency, Trump has been criticized for tapping two men to advise him on women’s issues, and he’s reportedly told his female staff that they need to “dress like women.” And if you need a primer for how Trump treated women before he became president, we’ve got that covered too.

We know Trump bristles every time Alec Baldwin plays him on SNL— though the president has been curiously silent on the issue the past few weeks. It’d be doubly interesting to hear what he thinks about being impersonated by a strong, outspoken woman like Jones. 

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*First Published: Feb 12, 2017, 8:22 am CST