“That was a critical error and many, many critical errors were made in 2016,” Schur says. “Because it wasn’t attacking him, it was tacitly endorsing his existence and normalizing his attitudes and behavior.” In his estimation, it was an attempt by Michaels to “stay relevant,” explaining, “Lorne likes it when the people who are being talked about in the culture come on the show.”…
Bringing Trump on to host the show, however, was clearly a bridge too far.
“I think people were still running the old playbook, where, yes, they are extreme in their beliefs but it’s still OK to bring them into the tent and give them airtime because ultimately the country is reasonable and will see them for what they are,” Schur says. “But they just kept coming, they didn’t relent, it didn’t change their behavior. So what ended up happening is they got normalized. Their attitudes got normalized in a way I don’t think they should have.”
