The View addressed the MAGA backlash over Tom Hanks‘ appearance on SNL50, where the actor reprised his role of Doug on “Black Jeopardy.”
In the sketch, Hanks plays a Donald Trump supporter wearing a red MAGA cap and freaking out over shaking host Kenan Thompson’s hand.
“The fact remains that they’re making anyone who voted for Trump look like a racist, and that’s why they’re mad,” Joy Behar said on Tuesday, February 18’s show.
The comedian added, “I personally would never do that, because I don’t believe that any group is one thing.”
Behar sympathized with Trump supporters, saying that the convict “misled” a lot of those who voted for him, adding, “They thought that grocery prices would come down. They’re up. They thought inflation was coming down. It’s up. They thought that Medicaid was safe. It’s not. They thought Social Security was safe. It’s not. So it’s not only racism that caused Trump to be in office. We have to remember that. So of course they’re going to be insulted.”
Sunny Hostin jumped in, recalling that Hanks first played the Doug role in 2016 and was one of the most popular sketches.
“I think it’s a very subversive sketch,” Hostin said. “In fact, it’s about Black culture being American culture.”
Hostin also noted that the part where Hanks was hesitant about shaking Thompson’s hand was a call to when Republican Senator Deb Fischer’s husband refused to shake Vice President Kamala Harris’ hand earlier this year.
Republican commentator and former White House Director of Strategic Communications under Trump’s first term, Alyssa Farah Griffin, said she “personally thinks the outrage over it is a little overblown.”
Former View co-host and Republican loyalist Meghan McCain took to X to call out Hanks for participating in the sketch, posting, “Tom Hanks always wants to pretend he’s the likable everyman but he’s as hate mongering of regular Americans as any host on msnbc. Good luck becoming less and less culturally relevant by the second bro.”
Watch The View debate SNL50 in the video below.
