Taran Killam Picked to Play Donald Trump on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

Taran Killam is getting a yuuuuge promotion for the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live. According to a Deadline report on Sunday, Killam has been picked to play presidential candidate Donald Trump when the show returns for its 41st season.

I hear several current cast members auditioned for the role, which went to Killam. Trump had memorably been played on SNL by former long-saturday night live trump.jpgtime cast member Darrell Hammond, who is now the show’s announcer. I hear he was not in consideration for reprising his Trump impersonation and was not among those who auditioned.

Honestly, it's great that Lorne Michaels didn't go with Darrell Hammond to play Trump. Had SNL given the Trump gig to Hammond, the show would have been sending the message that no one on the current cast was talented enough to play the controversial businessman. This is a sign that SNL is confident in its current cast and ready to —

He will instead bring back his signature SNL character, Bill Clinton. Hammond has done cameos as Clinton following his departure from the show as a cast member in 2009, recently appearing alongside Kate McKinnon’s Hillary Clinton in a skit about Hillary’s presidential bid announcement last season. With Hillary running, Hammond’s Bill is expected to be featured prominently on the show next season.

Oh.

Oh. I see. I'm sure no one on SNL's current cast wanted to have a shot at a career-making role like playing Bill Clinton. Of course, let's go with the guy who played the role two decades ago.

Sigh.