Donald Trump's SNL Promos Are Painful To Watch

I always waver on whether I feel Donald Trump's high standing in the polls is funny, sad, or something else altogether which makes it hard for me to sleep at night. All of these feelings and more collide when viewing Trump's new Saturday Night Live promo video. It's annoying and weird, and I don't get how we're supposed to think it's funny when "Trump comedy" on SNL is not in any way different from how Trump acts in real life. Everything he says in the video is something he's said in interviews, debates, and speeches. So what's the big deal? We get enough of him already. Now we're supposed to pretend that he can be unironically funny? I can't.

The video consists of a series of short promotional clips, featuring Trump basically just being Trump. Or are we obligated to call him "the Donald" when he's performing in a primarily entertainment capacity? (As opposed to the entertainment/political performances we see the rest of the time.) Either way, both Trump the candidate and the Donald annoy the crap out of me. And as the promos demonstrate, it appears these sides of Trump have officially merged.

The promos will make you roll your eyes and wonder why on Earth Trump needs additional exposure. Here are six moments that are virtually guaranteed to send your eyes to the back of your skull.

"Not Going To Brag"

Cecily Strong, an SNL cast member who appears in the promos with Trump, says that he has promised not to brag or claim to be the best at anything during his appearance on the show. Trump responds, "That's right, Cecily. And I am going to do the best job anyone has ever done at not saying it." Ugh.

"Ben Carson Is A Complete And Total Loser"

Strong jokes that because of equal airtime rules, Trump can only speak in the promo for four seconds. Trump chimes in with, "So let me just say that Ben Carson is a complete and total loser." Seriously. How is this supposed to be "funny?" Like, ha-ha funny? This is exactly how he is in real life! Is it impossible for Trump to be a caricature of himself because is already is a living caricature of himself?

"Real Men"

Strong and fellow cast member Sasheer Zamata are shown standing on the SNL stage, saying how much they wish there were some "real men around here." Trump walks over and they go all gaga. GROSS. They didn't go far enough out of their way to make it seem like we shouldn't really be attracted to Donald Trump. Although I don't know if it's possible to go far enough on that front.

"The Ratings Are Gonna Be Huuuge"

Strong does a totally half-assed impersonation of Trump at the end of the video. It's not funny. Please just make fun of the guy for real. It's not hard to do.

FCC Jokes

Two of the promos center on a joke about FCC regulations and the equal time rules, which make networks provide equal time to all candidates to prevent them from influencing elections too much. Frankly, I don't think enough people know about these rules to make it a decent joke (much less two). And further, shouldn't we be grateful that Trump's airtime is getting limited in this instance?

"Presidential Candidate"

Each time Strong referred to Trump as a presidential candidate, I couldn't help but grimace and think about one of his 2004 SNL appearances:

Presidential candidate, alright ...

Images: NBC