Another battle may be brewing between the President of the United States and...Alec Baldwin? It's possible, maybe probable, as Baldwin and his Trump impersonation returns to host Saturday Night Live this weekend. Baldwin's regular appearances as Trump have helped push SNL to decades-high ratings---last week's episode was the highest rated in 22 years---all while the new President has frequently bashed the show and Baldwin in particular. Trump has taken to Twitter in recent weeks calling SNL and Baldwin "unwatchable," "terrible," and "not funny" among other things.
While Baldwin and his Trump persona deserve some of the credit for SNL's resurgence this season, many of Trump's own supporters think the President has actually contributed to it as well with his critical tweets. "They're pulling him in to all of this extra garbage, and it just brings his level of importance down," says Chris Begala, political strategist with Houston’s Begala-McGrath. "The more (SNL) gets under President Trump's skin, the more that helps SNL, so leave it alone and ignore it, you've got much bigger fish to fry."
Begala tells KTRH he believes Trump is off to a great start in office with his policy agenda, but the new president needs to avoid getting distracted by things like SNL or which stores are dropping his daughter's clothing line. "My counsel would be leave the Ivanka clothes line alone, leave the Saturday Night Live alone, and just stick to your knittin', as we say in Texas," says Begala. "Just stick to your agenda."
As for whether the President will heed the counsel of Begala and others, the answer will come in his Twitter feed this weekend.