Taran Killam has a really nice feature in the new issue of Brooklyn Magazine. He’s promoting his directorial debut, Why We’re Killing Gunther, which seems like an action-comedy thing which he somehow got Arnold Schwarzenegger to agree to. While that part of the interview is nice – as is Taran letting his geeky comic-book-movie-nerd freak flag fly – I’m only here to talk about the section of the interview where Taran talks about Donald Trump. You may remember, Taran made some people (Deplorables) mad when he made some post-election tweets about Trump voters. He called rural voters “stupid,” then he took it back and said no, Trump voters are stupid. Then he apologized, although I think his point still stands. Anyway, Taran actually met Trump and worked with Trump in 2015, when Trump guest-hosted Saturday Night Live. And Taran has some stories. Oh, and Taran was working on Hamilton when Mike Pence saw the show. So he talks about that too.
How the Hamilton cast reacted to Mike Pence in the audience: “I think it was really well handled, and I’m very impressed by how the cast handled it. I think what I’ve learned from the cast is that a lot of the negativity was coming from the audience, and I think it was important for the cast that Mike Pence know that they were glad he came, and glad they had that opportunity to perform for him and to communicate with him, and that all are welcome at Hamilton. It’s not a show for any one type of person. I think you see that in the story, in the way that they’ve cast the show, and the people who connect to it and are affected by it. So yeah, I definitely know that people like things that are salacious and scandalous, and you watch the videos and you hear the boos, but I think that’s raw emotion coming from the people that are sharing the space, and I think if you watch what was said by the cast and by the show, and the way that they presented themselves, that it was intended to be an exchange of ideas.
How Trump seemed more upset about the cast’s speech than Mike Pence: “Yeah, well, the president is a moron.”
On meeting Trump on SNL in 2015: “It was not fun, and most of the cast and writers were not excited to have him there. I didn’t get the feeling that he was excited to be there, and it felt like a move for ratings from both sides. He was…[Brooklyn Mag: “Unpleasant?”] He was… everything you see. What you see is what you get with him, really. I mean, there was no big reveal. He struggled to read at the table read, which did not give many of us great confidence. Didn’t get the jokes, really. He’s just a man who seems to be powered by bluster.
“He struggled to read at the table read, which did not give many of us great confidence.” It sounds like Samantha Bee was right all along – Emperor Bigly can’t read. I also think this is sort of a profound assessment: “He was… everything you see. What you see is what you get with him, really.” That is what is absolutely terrifying, isn’t it? There’s no nuance, there’s nothing that makes you think, “Here’s a great mind at work.” There’s nothing that makes you say, “I bet he’s a lot different in private.” He’s a stupid monster in front of the cameras and in private.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Again, my disgust for those that voted for him grows by leaps and bounds every day. Thanks for screwing us all over.
Exactly. And it’s even more frustrating that 85 percent of those people will probably never realize it / will blame it on Obama and the dems. It leaves me feeling hopeless sometimes, and then I think, well, maybe midterms will change things. Maybe people will get out and vote some of these horrible people out. But then my cynicism comes through when I remember that hardly anyone ever shows up for midterms 🙁
I blame them and also the 40% of registered Americans that didn’t bother to vote and left it up to someone else to decide for them.
Another reason I feel the “Hill has this in the bag” feeling & narrative the few days before the election really did us all in.
White women voters from middle class and affluent backgrounds were the votes that put Trump over the top to win the election .I, too, am so angry with them. I say: Leave the poor rural undereducated voters out of this. They didn’t get us here.
No, it was undereducated white women for sure. And I don’t mean they lacked high school diplomas, I mean they were overwhelmingly low information voters, hence violently voting against their self-interests.
AFFLUENT white women? No.
The SNL Trump gig sounds like it was a nightmare. I believe he didn’t get the jokes…it has always seemed he has zero sense of humor whatsoever. When I read the headline I was hoping for more dirt from Killam but I get why he can’t even provide more details, since Trump just is who he is, no further embellishment needed. Ugh.
I’m just at a loss anymore about how to cope with this presidency. I’ve got through many stages of grief and anger and various other emotions but now I’m just numb, I think.
I’m also not surprised he didn’t get the jokes. his idea of a “joke” is calling people names and insulting them.
as for his not being able to read…I think he can, but he’s just not good at it and he struggles with it. when I saw some footage of the presser he did with King Abdullah from Jordan, you could tell when he was speaking “off the cuff” (when he sounded like a 12 year old who was winging it, like he usually does) and when he was reading the prepared words, at which point he was VERY DELIBERATE with saying each word like it was the MOST IMPORTANT WORD in his statement and paused after each word like “hey I got that one right, too!”
all the while King A looked on with various stages of befuddlement, amusement and disgust.
ETA: of course, instead of talking about how our two countries can work together and the usual joint-presser stuff, he AGAIN took the opportunity to blame the Obama admin, and talk about how terrible O’s deal with Iran was (“and I know because I’ve seen some beauties”). He’s such an insecure child.
RE: your ETA-
I think his disdain for O’s successes and general popularity is what is fueling so many of his bad decisions – dismantling the EPA, repealing regulations on financial and industrial corporations. Thin skinned, hot-headed moron that he is.
oh, I totally agree. I think part of his frustration is because O was so popular, he just assumed that HE (Drumpf) would be, too. like, everyone automatically likes the prez (even tho HE didn’t like O very much). and drumpf cannot STAND that “the black guy” was popular and he’s not. he probably figured “how hard can it be if they like the black guy?”
and now he’s started to realize that people liked O because of his policies, his persona, his intelligence, his humor, his compassion, his eloquence…his all around GOODNESS…and drumpf has NONE of those things.
He’s repealing regs because he and his political supporters (not the voters, who will suffer greatly because of this) are greedy SOBs who want to pillage the country and don’t appreciate any sort of legal impediment to their selfishness.
Obama’s just the default scapegoat to make this palatable to the racist, right-wing voters.
@Doofus – I actually had this debate with my friend a couple of weeks ago. The man reads off a teleprompter. He’s not illiterate. I believe he’s a sh***y reader, but he CAN read.
OMG, I can’t believe we’re having this discussion about POTUS **bangs head repeatedly against nearest wall**
yes, and because he’s a st*tty reader, he doesn’t know which words should be emphasized or where to pause to make his words hit home.
he tries to sound profound while he’s reading, but he winds up sounding like a youngster who’s learning the words of the book but doesn’t know what the words mean when you put them together.
Esmom says, “it has always seemed he has zero sense of humor whatsoever”
But he DOES have a sense of humor. And bigly. Grabbing women by their genitals is funny. Bowing and scraping at the alter of the alt-right is funny. And lying on the campaign trail is funny. Doofus is right. Banning Muslims? Building a wall? Mocking the disabled? Very, very funny stuff indeed.
I don’t understand why you don’t see this…
@realDonaldTrump 04/07/17 03:11
‘There is nobody who respects women more and has more sense of humor than Donald Trump! Easy D!’
Agree w Esmom. I’m also at a loss re- how to deal with this mess. I don’t even call it a Presidency. He’s NOT MY PRESIDENT! He’s a fool. I’d say he was a joke if he were funny, but he’s NOT FUNNY! He’s dangerous and sick. It’s so sad that we have him in the Whitehouse especially since we had a class act in The Obamas. (I don’t care if you disagree that the Obamas were a gift to this country. Whatever floats your boat, including your racist attitudes.) I think I can believe that he can’t read. He probably does have some kind of learning disability that prevents him from reading. Or maybe it’s just lack of intelligence. I’d believe that too. He’s priveleged because he’s rich so he has spent all his life around ass-kissers. He thinks he can make his own rules, disregard the laws of the country, dismiss The Constitution, do whatever the hell he wants and suffer no consequences. I look forward to the day when he is taken down! Good riddance to him and his equally crooked family!!!
I’ve read many different places that Trump can barely read. Does he know what the awful EOs that he signs nonstop even say?!
While watching him make his statement about the Syria attack last night, all I could think was “this man is having difficulty reading a prepared statement.” He…stopped…and…paused…after…every…single…word…even…the…little…ones…like…”a.”
YES! that’s what I just said, too! he read each word like it was the most important word EVER and paused after each one as if he was so pleased he got it right!
I know he got a degree from Penn, but I’d be my eye teeth that he only got in because of Daddy and probably paid other people to do his papers and tests.
Could he possibly have a learning disorder that he’s tried to keep hidden?
While at court a few years ago, he had a bunch of paperwork to read before he signed. He pretended he forgot his glasses, and just signed. Has anyone ever seen him wear glasses?
He probably has a learning disorder like dyslexia but he would never admit it because he sees as a sign of weakness.I read Tom Arnold said Trump would call Baron Trump “ret#rd” he probably sees anyone that isn’t “typical” or “normal” as inferior.
So will have mentally unstable,narcissistic,moron who also has trouble reading running our country?
Yeah we will be fine#sarcasm
@IlsaLund-
I wondered about dyslexia or some other LD.
But he’s still an asshole.
I agree that he has some type of LD but I also think it goes beyond just dyslexia, or whatever. In order to get a joke, you have to have some level of intelligence. The same with sarcasm. Has anyone here ever said something sarcastic and someone in the group didn’t get it, and when you thought about it, you realized they never get sarcasm? I think things like this are directly related to lack of intelligence.
If I didn’t hate him so much, I might be able to feel sympathetic. But…no.
I hear-tell that there’s something wonky about his degree from Wharton, like he attended but never graduated. Or that he graduated, but not with the high grades he’s bragged about.
“Has anyone here ever said something sarcastic and someone in the group didn’t get it, and when you thought about it, you realized they never get sarcasm? I think things like this are directly related to lack of intelligence.”
Not necessarily. For example, some people on autism spectrum don´t understand sarcasm regardless of their intelligence.
With EasyD, however, who knows? He doesn´t seem bright to me but he might very well have a learning disability. Or both. Or he is just a privileged POS who never bothered with learning — or working — or being of value to anybody at all.
I wonder if he has a learning disorder, is dyslexic or some such thing. His personality is certainly disordered and he parrots rather than expresses true empathy.
I don’t believe he reads the EO’s. Purportedly that’s how Bannon gained his spot on the NSC. Toddler-In-Chief signed an EO that included the placement of Bannon on the permanent committee of the NSC and was displeased when he found out.
Now that he’s lost his virginity in Syria I fully expect him to be chomping at the bit for more.
We in danger.
I’ve always heard that he took a couple classes at the Wharton School but got a BA from regular Penn, likely due to his dad. I could be wrong.
I wonder if he or his dad paid someone to attend classes, do the work, and take the tests. His dad was trying to keep him out of Vietnam. People in his class were asked about him and they didn’t really remember him clearly.
I’m absolutely convinced he can’t read properly, which is why he keeps family close. They read for him.
My mind cannot compute the idea that DT may not be able to read (or that he can’t read well). How is that even possible?
Ask crazy Tom Cruise. He stated he was dyslexic and struggled in school. It’s only gained attention and intervention in schools in recent decades.
The glasses thing (when he knew he was going to court and might have to read something) was a big tip off for me. I have worked with people who couldn’t read and they all said that.
I was just thinking the same thing. Dyslexic or such.
Thiis would explain why he has major confidence issues. Why he spouts off with what is in his head rather than sticking to written talking points or speeches.
I want to feel for him. But my hate for him is so intense…
I don’t know if I give him the benefit of the doubt enough to assume he has an LD like dyslexia, at least not when I consider all of his other personality traits. The man demonstrates no intellectual curiosity whatsoever. He was a rich kid, from a rich family, who likely bought him a diploma. He prefers golfing to politics, which would be no problem whatsoever……..if he wasn’t the most powerful politician in the world. So I’m going to assume he was just lazy in school, didn’t like to read, and never improved his reading skills or his vocabulary. I’m sure his understanding of mathematics, science, geography and history are just as poor, so that’s not dyslexia. He’s just plain stupid. And it is by choice!
“The man demonstrates no intellectual curiosity whatsoever.”
so true. if he doesn’t know it, it’s not worth knowing, apparently.
I once worked with a woman not unlike Trump – big mouth, full of bravado, dishonest, always looking for the angle etc – who could barely read, let alone write. It came as a shock because she had a relatively successful career. She covered her illiteracy with bluster and off the cuff comments. On reflection, she probably had a learning disorder that had never been picked up; she was in her 40’s by this stage. I’m now struck by the similarities of actions between her and Trump. I agree with a poster who suggested his kids are kept close to translate complexity for him. It is both appalling and sad that the US is in this state.
I read that his briefings need to be kept to a single page, and each item has to have a bullet point to draw attention to it. And double spacing. What??? A synopsis of world problems, kept to one page? Crazieness.
I’m going to Europe next month and I feel like wearing a big button that says, I’m so sorry and I didn’t vote for him!
Just say you’re Canadian – I did this during the Axis of Evil / Freedom Fries era and it worked beautifully.
Did I just read that he called his child a ret*rd? That is awful!
Our President is a moron…America, you in danger girl!
That’s why Putin and his Posse hacked us to make him POTUS…..they realized that he was as dumb as a gnat on meth, long before we did.
People (Trump included) don’t remember that he is not an entertainer. That apprentice show was a triumph of editing rather than performance.