[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 154 (Wednesday, October 21, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H7035-H7036]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DONALD TRUMP HOSTING ``SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, did you hear that ``Saturday Night Live''
has invited Donald Trump to host the show in November? Now, let me get
the exact quote from July when Donald Trump launched his ``make America
hate again'' campaign. He said:
``When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best . . .
They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing
us those problems. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime.
They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.''
``They're sending us not the right people. It's coming from more than
Mexico. It's coming from all over South and Latin America, and it's
coming probably from the Middle East.''
While much of what Donald Trump says is hilarious, intentionally or
otherwise, bald-faced racism for political gain isn't funny. His
statements should disqualify him from being able to take the stage in
any entertainment venue and speak to the American people as if what he
said was no big deal.
It is not that I don't get the joke--I haven't been kidnapped by the
politically correct police--but when public figures cross certain
lines, they should lose their privileges to host TV shows, at least
until they have apologized for their unacceptable behavior. To put
Donald Trump on the air in America's living rooms on the signature
comedy show of one of the most important national networks after saying
that Mexicans are rapists, drug dealers, and criminals, that is a
corporate blunder too big to be ignored.
What happened, NBC and Comcast? Within a couple of weeks after Trump
launched those racist bombs, you dumped Trump. You dumped his TV show
on your network. You dumped his pageants and other ventures on NBC and
Universal networks like Telemundo.
In July, NBC said: ``Due to the recent derogatory statements by
Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business
relationship with Mr. Trump.''
NBC said: ``Respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of
our values.''
NBC, you were not alone in dumping Trump. Macy's Department Stores
dumped Trump's clothing line, Serta dumped Trump's mattresses, chef
Jose Andres pulled his new restaurant from a Trump hotel, and Univision
dumped a Trump pageant. Even NASCAR and ESPN dumped Trump. Corporate
America stepped up to the plate and dumped Trump, and we all applauded.
Let's be clear: the goodwill that corporate America earned from
dumping Trump didn't just come from the Mexican-American community. No,
when Trump says Mexicans are murderers, rapists, and drug dealers,
Puerto Rico knows he is talking about us, too, and Colombians and
Salvadorans, and pretty much everyone in the Latino community.
Look, Americans aren't very good at telling us apart; so when we are
under attack by a tycoon running for the Republican Presidential
nomination, we can't tell us apart either. We are all family.
What happened, Comcast, Universal, and NBC? Now, 3 months later, have
Donald Trump's words been expunged? Did I miss an apology on one of his
almost nightly television appearances? Has he confessed his racist and
hateful call to action?
Well, NBC installing Trump as SNL host may be good for ratings, but
it is a bigger deal than a cameo or being a guest on ``The Tonight
Show.'' I am calling you out.
If Donald Trump had said gays and lesbians were murderers and raping
Americans, would he get to host a show? It is every bit as much a
fiction and a lie.
Donald Trump has said some pretty awful things about women
individually and collectively. But what if he said most women were
criminals? Would the writers be thinking up sketches for Trump if he
had slandered an entire gender rather than an entire ethnic group?
Trump says he wants to do away with the part of the Constitution that
allowed freed slaves, freed African American slaves to be treated fully
as American citizens. Yes, Trump thinks we do not need the 14th
Amendment to the Constitution.
But what if he said that Black people were murderers, rapists, drug
dealers? Would you still pitch skits with Donald Trump and some
lighthearted banter?
What if all the Latino cast members all walked off the job at
``Saturday Night Live''? Oh, wait, you don't have any Latino cast
members.
I do seem to remember Comcast spending a lot of time on Capitol Hill
when they had a merger deal with Time Warner and they wanted support
from Members of Congress. Comcast said Latinos were so important to
them, and they had plans to do this and that and the other thing to
support the Latino and immigrant community.
What happened? The merger didn't go through, so you no longer feel
the sense of corporate responsibility to the 55 million Latinos that
live in the USA? Giving free airtime to people who insult and malign
them is now part of your business model?
I just want to say one last thing to producer Lorne Michaels. I
wonder if he had said that Canadians were rapists, murderers, and drug
dealers, would you be inviting him on SNL?
Mr. Speaker, I place in the Record a letter that I sent NBC Comcast
yesterday.
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, October 20, 2015.
Mr. Brian Roberts,
Chairman/President/CEO, Comcast Corp,
Philadelphia, PA.
Mr. Stephen B. Burke,
President/CEO, NBCUniversal,
New York, NY.
Dear Messrs. Roberts and Burke: Having Donald Trump as a
guest on every news and entertainment program is one thing,
but allowing him to host Saturday Night Live is another. It
is a level of endorsement that says to America that every
hateful and racist thing Donald Trump has said since the
moment he launched his campaign is acceptable and no big
deal.
Well, it is a big deal. He said Mexicans are rapists,
criminals and drug-dealers, and to be clear, when he said
Mexicans are those things, he was tarring all Latinos and all
immigrants. His exact words were, ``They're sending us not
the right people. It's coming from more than Mexico. It's
coming from all over South and Latin America, and it's coming
probably from the Middle East.''
The reaction in July from NBC was swift and clear: ``Due to
the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding
immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship
with Mr. Trump.'' And NBC said, ``Respect and dignity for all
people are cornerstones of our values.''
Serta, Macy's, NASCAR, Univision, and ESPN were among the
others that also acted to dump Trump.
Three months later, because he is a ratings and comedy
bonanza, Lorne Michaels and Saturday Night Live (SNL) are
giving the Trump campaign 90 minutes of free network airtime.
I think I speak for a lot of Americans, especially
immigrant Americans and Latino Americans, when I say that if
SNL is allowed to proceed, it would be a huge corporate
blunder.
When Comcast sought a merger with Time Warner, I and a lot
of my Congressional Hispanic Caucus colleagues heard from you
[[Page H7036]]
about your commitment to the Latino community and the level
of corporate responsibility you pledged to your diverse
audience. I certainly hope that your commitment to ``respect
and dignity for all people'' was not some hollow promise and
is in fact a cornerstone of your values.
Please disinvite him. Make a statement: Derogatory
statements of the nature trumpeted by Trump about any group
disqualifies someone from hosting shows on your network. Send
a message that racism is not funny and that responsibility to
your viewers and the public is more important than ratings.
It is a chance for your company--again--to show you are
committed to your audience in more ways than just the ad
revenues they provide you.
Please do the right thing and dump Trump.
Sincerely,
Luis V. Gutierrez,
Member of Congress.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their
remarks to the Chair.
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