Donald Trump believes there is zero chance he will be dropped from his Saturday Night Live hosting gig next month, despite a growing number of protesters demanding NBC take action.
During a Monday phone interview on Fox and Friends, the GOP frontrunner said the viewership for his Nov. 7 episode of SNL will be massive and NBC knows it.
“Frankly, I think the ratings are going to be through the roof,” Trump said. “Lorne Michaels is a very smart guy. NBC are very smart people. If they want to do a show with a third of the ratings, they might do that,” Trump said about the possibility of being dropped.
When pressed if had any concern whatsoever, Trump said, “No, I don’t see that at all.”
The petition stated by Latino and immigrant advocacy groups America’s Voice and MoveOn.org has gained more than 121,000 signatures.
“By inviting Donald Trump to host Saturday Night Live, NBC is demonstrating that it doesn’t care about its Latino and pro-immigrant viewers. It is providing a platform for Trump’s insulting attacks on immigrants and calling it entertainment — something we do not find funny,” according to the petition.
Trump said he is confident he has the Hispanic vote.
“I’m leading in the polls with the Hispanics. I mean, you look at Nevada, I’m leading in the polls with the Hispanics because I produce jobs, and they know it,” Trump said. “I have thousands of Hispanics that work for me, my relationships to Hispanics is better than those groups.”
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The hosts of Fox and Friends brought up the billionaire businessman’s dicey relationship with NBC because he was “dumped” from The Apprentice. Trump replied that he was not dumped — only the Miss Universe pageant was — and the network would take him back with open arms.
“They would take me right now, and they would get rid of [new host] Arnold Schwarzenegger if I wanted to do it,” he said.
A spokeswoman for NBC did not immediately return a request for comment.
