Over the weekend, founder and CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk hosted Saturday Night Live. It was news insofar as Musk is one of the richest people in the world and has made himself somewhat available for discussion over the years as an active presence on social media and in public. Many in the media hoped to create the narrative that this was a new and unique phenomenon: A CEO and business person, not a professional entertainer, attempting to be funny along with the cast of the late night comedy sketch show. It wasn’t. A guy named Trump hosted the show the same year he ran for president and won (by losing the popular vote). Almost exactly 25 years ago, Steve Forbes hosted SNL.
On Monday, Newsmax’s morning show decided to have David Litt, former senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama, on to talk about Musk’s appearance. Newsmax, a right-wing misinformation and propaganda wing of the MAGA Republican Party, seems to have felt that because Donald Trump did a similar thing in 2015, this was their best chance at doing a somewhat light-hearted segment in which they could say the name of the twice-impeached dirtbag. But right away, Wake Up America host Rob Finnerty realized this wasn’t going to go as planned.
Finnerty, a standard issue, plastic-fantastic, right-wing morning host, began by “asking” Litt what he thought about Musk’s appearance. Before writing out how Finnerty “asked” this question, it is important to understand the minefield Newsmax must traverse in order to talk about what the rest of us consider reality—even the simple reality of a late night comedy sketch show being hosted by an automobile manufacturing CEO. SNL is a comedy show that frequently makes fun of political leaders, and for the most part is considered lightly liberal in its treatment of those leaders. As such, SNL is verboten around Newsmax.
Finnerty begins by introducing Litt to his program. Litt says, “Thanks for having me,” and Finnerty follows that by saying: “I did not watch Saturday Night Live.” Okaaaay. The Newsmax talking hole then says this, verbatim:
You notice how he didn’t put the question at the end where you normally put a question to someone. Here is where things go from snore to fun! Litt responds by planting his tongue firmly in his cheek and saying, “Well, Rob, that’s a great question.” Hehe. “I mean what happened on SNL this weekend was that people made stuff up and then said it on television like it's true, and that actually happens pretty frequently in American TV. For example, in 2020, Dominion Voting System sued Newsmax over its false claims about election fraud. Newsmax was lying to its own viewers and Newsmax had to settle that lawsuit. Actually, I just need to check in: Are you still telling that lie, or are you telling new lies?”
BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Important to note here: David Litt asked his question at the end of his sentence.
Of course, if you didn’t already know, outlets like Newsmax and Fox News were hit with the threats of libel lawsuits and then the filings of those lawsuits for spreading around the very false story that Dominion voting machines were used to perpetrate massive voter fraud during the 2020 election. The one where a twice-impeached, historically unpopular president, who did not win the popular vote ever, lost his election to Joe Biden. The result was a public apology issued by Newsmax in order to settle further legal ramifications for them pushing the Big Lie about the 2020 elections.
For his part, Finnerty is able to never say the words “Dominion,” “Voting,” or “Elections,” as he laments that Litt wants to talk about something “totally off topic.” (I wonder if Newsmax hosts who say the word “Dominion” are electrically shocked?) Litt responds by saying he understands why Finnerty doesn’t want to talk about Dominion Voting Systems, “because if you do Newsmax could get sued and lose billions of dollars because these are lies.”
Finnerty then attempts to dismount by condescendingly saying that he “knows” Litt is having a “very funny moment,” and that Litt probably didn’t get to sleep much last night because he was watching SNL, something that Finnerty has already said he cannot stay up so late to watch. Then Finnerty, in his last-ditch effort to have some kind of content to fill up his vacuous morning show, says that while he’s not going to talk about anything else besides Elon Musk right now, he needs to know if David Litt, on live television, is willing to get serious and talk about Musk’s already forgotten appearance on SNL or if he’s going to continue to joke around and talk about Newsmax’s unconscionable lying to the American public about this past election’s integrity.
Teehee. They cut Litt off and Finnerty gives a long sigh, saying that he had really hoped to talk about Musk’s appearance on SNL, because while Finnerty didn’t watch it he “thought he [Musk] did an okay job.” Okaaay?
In the end, the only real news connected to Musk hosting SNL was a game of will he or won’t he embarrass himself. A person who seemingly has succeeded—by making lot of money—might fall flat on their face doing something that is frequently forgettable. Musk’s appearance ends up being forgettable, as are most appearances on the late night show. But Litt’s appearance on Newsmax’s morning show will long be remembered here.
On Monday, Newsmax’s morning show decided to have David Litt, former senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama, on to talk about Musk’s appearance. Newsmax, a right-wing misinformation and propaganda wing of the MAGA Republican Party, seems to have felt that because Donald Trump did a similar thing in 2015, this was their best chance at doing a somewhat light-hearted segment in which they could say the name of the twice-impeached dirtbag. But right away, Wake Up America host Rob Finnerty realized this wasn’t going to go as planned.
Finnerty, a standard issue, plastic-fantastic, right-wing morning host, began by “asking” Litt what he thought about Musk’s appearance. Before writing out how Finnerty “asked” this question, it is important to understand the minefield Newsmax must traverse in order to talk about what the rest of us consider reality—even the simple reality of a late night comedy sketch show being hosted by an automobile manufacturing CEO. SNL is a comedy show that frequently makes fun of political leaders, and for the most part is considered lightly liberal in its treatment of those leaders. As such, SNL is verboten around Newsmax.
Finnerty begins by introducing Litt to his program. Litt says, “Thanks for having me,” and Finnerty follows that by saying: “I did not watch Saturday Night Live.” Okaaaay. The Newsmax talking hole then says this, verbatim:
You notice how he didn’t put the question at the end where you normally put a question to someone. Here is where things go from snore to fun! Litt responds by planting his tongue firmly in his cheek and saying, “Well, Rob, that’s a great question.” Hehe. “I mean what happened on SNL this weekend was that people made stuff up and then said it on television like it's true, and that actually happens pretty frequently in American TV. For example, in 2020, Dominion Voting System sued Newsmax over its false claims about election fraud. Newsmax was lying to its own viewers and Newsmax had to settle that lawsuit. Actually, I just need to check in: Are you still telling that lie, or are you telling new lies?”
BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Important to note here: David Litt asked his question at the end of his sentence.
Of course, if you didn’t already know, outlets like Newsmax and Fox News were hit with the threats of libel lawsuits and then the filings of those lawsuits for spreading around the very false story that Dominion voting machines were used to perpetrate massive voter fraud during the 2020 election. The one where a twice-impeached, historically unpopular president, who did not win the popular vote ever, lost his election to Joe Biden. The result was a public apology issued by Newsmax in order to settle further legal ramifications for them pushing the Big Lie about the 2020 elections.
For his part, Finnerty is able to never say the words “Dominion,” “Voting,” or “Elections,” as he laments that Litt wants to talk about something “totally off topic.” (I wonder if Newsmax hosts who say the word “Dominion” are electrically shocked?) Litt responds by saying he understands why Finnerty doesn’t want to talk about Dominion Voting Systems, “because if you do Newsmax could get sued and lose billions of dollars because these are lies.”
Finnerty then attempts to dismount by condescendingly saying that he “knows” Litt is having a “very funny moment,” and that Litt probably didn’t get to sleep much last night because he was watching SNL, something that Finnerty has already said he cannot stay up so late to watch. Then Finnerty, in his last-ditch effort to have some kind of content to fill up his vacuous morning show, says that while he’s not going to talk about anything else besides Elon Musk right now, he needs to know if David Litt, on live television, is willing to get serious and talk about Musk’s already forgotten appearance on SNL or if he’s going to continue to joke around and talk about Newsmax’s unconscionable lying to the American public about this past election’s integrity.
Teehee. They cut Litt off and Finnerty gives a long sigh, saying that he had really hoped to talk about Musk’s appearance on SNL, because while Finnerty didn’t watch it he “thought he [Musk] did an okay job.” Okaaay?
In the end, the only real news connected to Musk hosting SNL was a game of will he or won’t he embarrass himself. A person who seemingly has succeeded—by making lot of money—might fall flat on their face doing something that is frequently forgettable. Musk’s appearance ends up being forgettable, as are most appearances on the late night show. But Litt’s appearance on Newsmax’s morning show will long be remembered here.