Saturday Night Live has been on an upswing the past two weeks, with the 2016 Election having lit a creative fire amongst the cast and writers. The show, especially ‘Weekend Update,’ has had direct aim on Trump but co-anchor Colin Jost drew fire this past week for a joke, aimed at Tinder’s new gender options, that many found insensitive to the trans community: “The dating app Tinder announced a new feature this week which gives users 37 different gender identity options,” Jost said. “It’s called ‘Why Democrats lost the election.'”
The joke instantly spurred backlash on social media. The only Twitter account Jost replied to, however, was NYC queer pop punk duo PWR BTTM. Here’s the blow-by-blow:
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https://twitter.com/PWRBTTMBAND/status/800758685219819520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
@PWRBTTMBAND so you think 100 percent of Trump voters were hatred and 0 percent had any other rationale?
— Colin Jost (@ColinJost) November 22, 2016
@ColinJost literally explain why I, a gender non conforming person, should find this funny, and we can talk
— pwr bttm? (@PWRBTTMBAND) November 22, 2016
@ColinJost listen, I love SNL and I think you’re great. Please don’t trivialize our right to love. We are all so scared
— pwr bttm? (@PWRBTTMBAND) November 22, 2016
@PWRBTTMBAND in no way am I trying to. I’m on your side a hundred percent. Only trying to learn from this defeat and get stronger.
— Colin Jost (@ColinJost) November 22, 2016
@PWRBTTMBAND It’s politics. A lot of politics is messaging and getting America on board. I want to examine how we failed at that goal.
— Colin Jost (@ColinJost) November 22, 2016
@PWRBTTMBAND I worry about not doing any self-examination and making the same mistake again.
— Colin Jost (@ColinJost) November 22, 2016
@ColinJost this isn’t Lenny Bruce v McCarthyism: this is us afraid for our lives. Just let us have fucking tinder. Trump isn’t our fault
— pwr bttm? (@PWRBTTMBAND) November 22, 2016
@ColinJost dude just like wake up, acknowledge your bs. We need you, you’re on the most important comedy show ever
— pwr bttm? (@PWRBTTMBAND) November 22, 2016
@ColinJost listen: if you want to self examine check out all the GNC people who are telling you this hurt them an reflect
— pwr bttm? (@PWRBTTMBAND) November 22, 2016