Live From New York, It's Anti-Trump Demonstrators

UPDATE at 1:38 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, 2015: The time of the demonstration has been added, below.

Demonstrators unhappy with Donald Trump's hosting gig for Saturday Night Live will march outside NBC studios at New York's 30 Rockefeller Center, where SNL is filmed, on Saturday, which is when the presidential candidate is scheduled to appear on the show, L.A. Weekly has learned.

"We're asking these guys to do the right thing by the Latino community and dump him," said Alex Nogales, CEO of the L.A.-based National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), one of the groups participating in the protest.

Marchers will start at Trump Tower and make their way to 30 Rock, he said. The exact time was to be announced. 

It will be the second demonstration against the network inspired by Trump's hosting duties Nov. 7 at the sketch comedy show. Leading Latino groups, including the NHMC, National Council of La Raza, National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, Presente.org and more, feel the show is helping to legitimize what they believe is a hateful stance on south-of-the-border immigrants.

In June Trump called Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists, and he has made criticism of those here illegally a cornerstone of his GOP campaign. He has been accused of anti-Latino hate speech, and his supporters have physically attacked Latinos more than once.

Since we first started reporting on the SNL controversy Oct. 14, two members of Congress have called on the show to disinvite Trump, the Hispanic Congressional Caucus has weighed in, and several Latino celebrities have spoken out against SNL and its long history of snubbing Latino talent.

Comedian/actor John Leguizamo, for one, promised this week that he would never watch Saturday Night Live again. Eva Longoria has urged a boycott of SNL.

In 41 seasons only two cast members, both male, have been Latino. A dozen or fewer hosts have been Latino. Only three of those have been of Mexican descent. Latinos now compose the largest minority group in the nation.

Mexican-American comedic icons George Lopez, Cheech Marin and Paul Rodriguez have never hosted SNL.


At this point it would appear Trump's hosting gig is a done deal. The show rehearses sketches and produces bits and videos the week before it airs, and promos of the real estate mogul's appearance have already leaked.

"Now that they have done this, we're not going to forget it as a community," Nogales said. "They're going to suffer the consequences of trying to get quick ratings versus getting a long-term audience that's more important."

NBC and SNL producer Lorne Michaels have so far been silent about the controversy.

UPDATE at 1:38 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, 2015: Organizers say the Saturday march will start at 6 p.m. EST at 725 Fifth Ave. (Trump Tower) and culminate outside 30 Rockefeller Center with a 7:30 p.m. press conference.

The demonstration is being called
"Marcha to Stop the Hate." 

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