behind the scenes

Colin Jost on the Differences Between Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders on SNL

Donald vs. Hillary. Photo: Getty Images

In what has become a ritual, presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Bernie Sanders have all made campaign pit stops at SNL. At the annual LOL With LLS comedy night benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at the PlayStation Theatre Monday night, Weekend Update anchor Colin Jost described the major difference between working with Clinton versus Trump. Namely, the entourage. “Hillary Clinton had been on our show two weeks before. Hillary showed up. Hillary brought like 15 people. She brought a publicist, her campaign manager, friends, security,” said Jost. “You would go in her room to tell her something about a sketch. You would go in and you would, like, whisper to someone. And they would whisper to someone else. And they would whisper into the shadows. And then Hillary would emerge from the shadows, and she would take your hand and say, ‘It’s so great to be here.’ And she would drift back into the shadows. And you’re like, ‘Did that happen? I don’t know if that happened.’”

Donald Trump, who hosted SNL back in November, was a completely different story, according to Jost. “Donald Trump showed up with zero people. Zero. He had no friends, he had no security — so there’s opportunities. He had no advisers, which is perhaps not surprising,” said Jost. “I honestly think that Donald Trump’s only adviser is his doorman. Like, I think he just walks out in the morning and is like, ‘Hey, Fred. I was thinking, no Muslims, right? I woke up. I was thinking we don’t do Muslims anymore.’ And Fred’s like, ‘What a terrific idea, boss. I love that idea. Have a great day at work. By the way, your hair looks so natural.’”

And we can’t forget about Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, right? “Bernie was fascinating. Bernie, you know I like Bernie,” said Jost. “Here’s the thing about Bernie: interesting guy, he’s old. … It’s kind of shocking when you meet him in person. Like, I shook his hand, and I’m like, ‘Oh, sorry. Do you want your bones back?’ He’s so old and he’s only surrounded by old people. It always looks like Mr. Magoo got caught in a flash mob.”

Colin Jost on Having Trump and Clinton on SNL