People Are Seriously Cringing Over Pete Davidson’s Story About Donald Trump’s Allegedly “Weird” Behavior Behind The Scenes Of “SNL” In 2015

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Donald Trump has hosted Saturday Night Live twice, first in April 2004 and again in November 2015 — the second time as a presidential candidate.

The 2015 hosting gig — which came just five months after he launched his first presidential campaign in June of that year — was incredibly divisive at the time and is, understandably, still frowned upon today.

And now, a clip of Pete Davidson discussing the president's 2015 appearance on the show has resurfaced online.

Pete, who was a cast member on the show from 2014 to 2022, said on Complex Open Late in 2018 that Trump was "weird all week" leading up to the live show, and that one of the strangest moments occurred when he allegedly "faked a phone call at the table read."

Pete said that, in the middle of the table read with all the cast, Trump picked up his flip phone, quickly answered, hung up abruptly, and then announced to the room that his "book just went to number one."

Pete said that he and his SNL colleagues had some doubts about the validity of the very speedy phone call. "I swear on my life, and we were all like, 'That phone didn't ring?' and like, 'How did [the person on the other end of the phone] have time to say that?'" Pete recalled speculating. "[Trump] answered and went, 'Yup, oh my God,' like, he didn't even say 'Hello'... we were all like, Eurgh."

Years later, the interview clip is making the rounds again, and, while we can't know for sure if this really happened, people are seriously cringing at the anecdote.

"Yeah, I don't see anyone falling for that ever, but I do believe he would believe people would fall for that," one Reddit user wrote, to which another replied: "The people he surrounds himself with every day would pretend like they totally believe it and flatter him relentlessly, that's why he does it."

"The thing I've learned about narcissists is that they have no idea how they are perceived externally," someone else said. 

"It’s crazy how Trump gave literally EVERYONE on SNL an instant out to the question of 'who was the worst host,'" added another.

In a biography of SNL creator Lorne Michaels published last year, it was claimed that the show's staffers thought Lorne had "lost his fucking mind" when he invited Trump to host in 2015. When he was elected president the following year, SNL staffers reportedly "felt shame and anger," with many believing that "SNL bore some responsibility for Trump's win."

Similarly, in 2017, Taran Killam — who was on SNL from 2010 to 2016 and often played Trump — told NPR that Trump’s 2015 hosting gig is "something that only grows more embarrassing and shameful as time goes on." "I don’t think it was considered — the implications that it had then and could have moving forward," Taran said. "And I think looking back … there’s nothing good I can take from that week."

Let me know what you make of all this in the comments. You can watch Pete's full 2018 interview here.

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