Over the weekend, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon gave his first interview since leaving U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
In an interview with 60 Minutes‘ Charlie Rose, Bannon was asked about Saturday Night Live portraying him as the Grim Reaper.
READ MORE: Steve Bannon: Trump firing James Comey the biggest mistake in ‘modern political history’
“There’s this Saturday Night Live image,” Rose said. “It basically shows you as some Svengali.”
“Actually the Grim Reaper,” Bannon responded. “I don’t need the affirmation of the mainstream media. I don’t care what they say.”
Bannon continued: “They can call me an anti-Semite. They can call me racist. They call me nativist. You can call me anything you want. OK? As long as we’re driving this agenda for the working men and women of this country, I am happy.”
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Bannon left the White House last month and returned to Breitbart News.
He still remains one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters, calling him “very presidential” and claiming Trump’s use of Twitter is acceptable.
“I think what he does on Twitter is extraordinary. He disintermediates the media. He goes above their head and talks directly to the American people,” Bannon told Rose. “It’s what he says. No, it’s what he says that the mainstream media, the pearl-clutching mainstream media. The pearl-clutching mainstream media. What they deem is not correct, what they deem is not right.”
READ MORE: Sean Spicer responds to Melissa McCarthy ‘SNL’ skit
Bannon is not the only political figure who has been mocked in SNL’s 42nd season.
Melissa McCarthy made headlines for her impersonation of Sean Spicer on the show.
Spicer weighed in on the performance, telling Extra that he thought McCarthy’s performance was actually pretty funny.
He said that he’d first heard about the sketch while leaving church on a Sunday morning, and he’d been receiving so many text messages he thought there must be a national emergency.
He said that McCarthy “needs to slow down on gum-chewing; way too many pieces in there.”
He said, “Alec has gone from funny to mean, and that’s unfortunate. SNL used to be really funny. There’s a streak of meanness now that they’ve crossed over to mean.”
READ MORE: Donald Trump calls ‘SNL’ a ‘terrible’ show, predicts its cancellation
In an interview with Matt Lauer on the Today show in 2016, Trump went off on SNL’‘s multiple skits depicting him, attacking actor Baldwin.
Trump called the comedy show “terrible,” and Baldwin’s impersonations “mean-spirited” and “biased.”
“Well, I hosted SNL when it was a good show, but it’s not a good show anymore,” he said, referring to his hosting duties in 2015. “Nothing to do with me — there’s nothing funny about it. The skits are terrible. I mean, I like Alec, but his imitation of me is really mean-spirited and not very good. I don’t think it’s good. I do like him, and I like him as an actor, but I don’t think his imitation of me gets me at all. And it’s meant to be very mean-spirited, which is very biased. I don’t like it. So I can tweet that out.”
SNL mocked Trump’s tendency to tweet impulsively in December, and the show hit the mark when he proceeded to tweet angrily at the show.
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Lauer asked Trump if he “should stop” watching SNL, and Trump insinuated that it wouldn’t exist for much longer.
“Frankly, the way the show is going now — and you look at the kind of work they’re doing — who knows how long that show is going to be on? It’s a terrible show,” he retorted.
—With files from Chris Jancelewicz
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