Petition Urging 'SNL' To Drop Donald Trump As Host Garners Over 520,000 Signatures; Protesters Rally Outside NBC Studios
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Hundreds of thousands of Americans are not laughing along with "Saturday Night Live" and NBC as Donald Trump prepares to host this weekend's show.
Protesters rallied outside NBC Studios in Manhattan Wednesday night, calling on the program to recind the hosting invitation, WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reported.
"It's a slap in the face to all the people who care about human rights," said Nicola Dimarco. "There's nothing funny about racism."
"We're asking the companies like Goya, Sprint and other companies to pull out of advertisement on Saturday night," said Frank Garcia, who chairs a Hispanic business group.
Meanwhile, more than half a million people have signed a partnership petition telling "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels, and NBC that "Donald Trump's racism isn't funny," and urging the network to drop Trump from the program.
Since announcing his candidacy for president, Trump has seen a whirlwind of criticism over his comments regarding immigration and Hispanics living in the United States.
The petition has gained support from several organizations, including immigration advocacy group America's Voice, Change.org, CREDO Action, and MoveOn.org.
"There's mounting evidence that Donald Trump's racist demagoguery is resulting in real-world violence and physical and verbal intimidation," said CREDO Deputy Political Director Mushed Zaheed. "It's irresponsible and dangerous for NBC to provide Trump with a free national platform to bolster his racist and xenophobic campaign."
Leaders from the organization planned to deliver the petition, which has been signed by at least 522,000 people, to NBC Studios in New York City Wednesday night.
"It is shameful for 'SNL' and NBC to think that racism can be repackaged as comedy. Moreover, it is disappointing to see that Lorne Michaels and the executives at NBC are willing to prioritize their ratings over the dignity and respect of their viewers," said Juan Escalante, America's Voice Digital Campaigns Manager. "On Wednesday, we will raise our voices and ensure that NBC and SNL understand that Trump's attacks on Latinos and immigrants are not funny."
The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda and the Los Angeles-based National Hispanic Media Coalition have also called on NBC to reconsider allowing Trump to host the show.
