In a recent interview with Brooklyn Magazine, ex-SNL cast member Taran Killam had some harsh words for our new president, who infamously hosted the sketch show in November 2015.
Killam was abruptly fired from SNL in August 2016, along with Jay Pharoah and Jon Rudnitsky, who had been with the show for just one season. In January, Killam joined the cast of the wildly popular Broadway musical Hamilton, in the role of the blustery King George. Interviewer Evan Romano brings up the Mike Pence incident — the now-Vice President was booed when he attended a performance of the play back in November, just days after the election, and was subsequently treated to a speech by the cast members during the curtain call — remarking that at the time, Pence didn’t seem nearly as upset by the incident as the then-president-elect.
“Yeah, well, the president is a moron,” Killam replies. Reflecting on Trump’s hosting gig on November 7, 2015, a few months after he announced he was running for president, Killam continues:
It was not fun, and most of the cast and writers were not excited to have him there. I didn’t get the feeling that he was excited to be there, and it felt like a move for ratings from both sides. He was… Unpleasant? He was… everything you see. What you see is what you get with him, really. I mean, there was no big reveal. He struggled to read at the table read, which did not give many of us great confidence. Didn’t get the jokes, really. He’s just a man who seems to be powered by bluster.
Who would’ve thought?