Conservative viewers expressed outrage after actor Tom Hanks reprised his character as a Trump-supporting conservative on the Saturday Night Live (SNL) 50th anniversary special. The controversial character, Doug, first appeared in 2016 during an episode of the sketch Black Jeopardy!. In the sketch, Doug, wearing a Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat and an American Eagle shirt, initially refuses to shake hands with Kenan Thompson's character, Darnell Hayes, before reluctantly agreeing. The scene, intended as humor, sparked strong reactions from Trump supporters on social media.
Black Jeopardy! #SNL50 pic.twitter.com/QFKKTRWeer
— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) February 17, 2025
The sketch sparked immediate backlash, with right-wing commentators like Benny Johnson and Clay Travis accusing it of being "tone deaf" for inaccurately depicting Trump supporters as racist, especially given his growing popularity among minority voters. Mario Nawfal, another conservative figure, called the portrayal of Trump’s fan base as "racist caricatures" outdated.
Nobody even laughs. Tom Hanks and the writers of @nbcsnl are an embarrassment for this nonsense. pic.twitter.com/eNrLSGSWDR
— Justin Hart (@justin_hart) February 17, 2025
Tom Hanks just came out on SNL in a MAGA hat for a bit where he acted like he didn’t want to shake a black man’s hand.
— Link Lauren (@itslinklauren) February 17, 2025
This show wonders why their ratings are in the gutter. Trump won the popular vote. This tired trope that MAGA is racist is disgusting. SNL is an unfunny show… pic.twitter.com/PlSc7gmiJ0
It didn’t take @nbc long to insult Trump voters by putting Tom Hanks on with an all black cast acting dumb and racist in a MAGA hat. It was rather disgusting. What a tool. What a disgrace @nbcsnl to decide to exclude an audience of millions who grew up watching your programming. pic.twitter.com/uEmG4aEm0Y
— texanconstitutionalist (@texanconstitut1) February 17, 2025
In the February 16, 2025 sketch, Doug once again refused to shake Hayes' hand and suggested creating a "White Jeopardy" show, a line that ignited a wave of backlash. Many conservatives took to social media to express their frustration, accusing SNL of insulting a significant portion of its audience.
Tom Hanks in a MAGA hat, horrified at the idea of shaking a black man’s hand, tells you everything you need to know about what the left has learned since November and why they will thankfully continue to lose landslide election after landslide election for the foreseeable future pic.twitter.com/igcPmKhKTM
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) February 17, 2025
One former aide to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Link Lauren, expressed frustration, claiming that the portrayal of MAGA supporters as racists was "disgusting" and further alienated viewers who had supported the Republican Party. He also criticized the show’s low ratings, attributing them to its liberal biases.
The controversy surrounding the sketch also sparked a broader discussion about political humor and its role in the growing cultural divide, underscoring the increasing polarization in entertainment and public discourse.
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