Trump's victory - one year on: From SNL to Eminem's freestyle, how culture has reacted to the 2016 election
Including American Horror Story, the Oscars and Snoop Dogg
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Tomorrow marks one year since Donald Trump was elected as the President of the United States of America, a decision which has reshaped not only the world's political landscape but the cultural one also.
Film, television, and music have all been affected by the outcome of the US election with notable actors, filmmakers, showrunners, musicians and TV personalities inspired to use their platform to express their views on Trump.
Below is a compilation of how culture has tackled his presidency, one year on.
Film
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
Directors Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk were forced to rework their follow-up to the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth following Trump's withdrawal from the Paris agreement in June 2017 which left the US as the only country in the world not to support the framework deal to combat greenhouse emissions. Ultimately, the edit saw the President become the film's main antagonist as Al Gore's continuing mission to battle climate change rolled on.
TV
American Horror Story: Cult
Perhaps one of the more on-the-nose inspirations, the seventh season of Ryan Murphy's anthology series tackled the election head-on with a run of episodes following the development of a murderous cult in the wake of Trump's presidency. The chilling opening credits even feature two figures wearing an ominous mask bearing the faces of both the President and his rival Hillary Clinton.
Saturday Night Live
The outcome of the election didn't stop Saturday Night Live from continuing its high-profile impersonations of political figures. Alec Baldwin's portrayal of Trump not only scored the actor an Emmy but saw him mistaken for the actual President in an international newspaper.
Late night talk shows
Trump's presidency provided late night talk show hosts in the US with plenty of material to chew on as notable figures including Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee and Trevor Noah made it their thankless aim to eviscerate Trump's latest actions with every passing day.
Will & Grace
The revival of NBC sitcom Will & Grace wasted no time in sending up the President with a premiere episode which poked fun at his skin tone (it's likened to a bag of Cheetos) and sent characters Grace (Debra Messing) and Karen (Megan Mullally) into the heart of the White House after the former wins the opportunity to redesign the Oval Office. A comedic footnote referenced Trump's campaign slogan as Grace left a “Make America Gay Again” hat lying on his char.
Award ceremonies
The year's biggest award ceremonies - namely the Golden Globes, Oscars and the Grammys - saw many presenters and winners call out the current state of America with several impassioned speeches from notable figures, including Meryl Streep, attracting the attention of Trump himself. One Oscars skit saw host Jimmy Kimmel live-tweet the President during the broadcast which endured as one of the most popular moments in the history of the ceremony (even more than that Ellen selfie).
Mr. Robot
The latest season of Golden Globe-winning TV series Mr. Robot saw creator Sam Esmail pen a scathing monologue - delivered by lead character Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) - play over a thrilling montage sequence cutting to shots of Trump as well as fellow world leaders Vladmir Putin and Theresa May. A later scene set ahead of the election saw his presidency bleed into the show's DNA as two villainous characters were shown conspiring to get Trump into the White House.
The President Show
Comedy Central debuted a brand new weekly talk show presented by comedian Anthony Atamanuik in character as the President. Titled The President Show, each episode saw the impersonator, in character as Trump, broadcast his views directly from the White House alongside Pete Grosz who played Trump's Vice President Mike Pence.
Music
Eminem
Eminem tore into Trump with a four-minute freestyle rap, titled “The Storm,” which saw him call out the President on issues including white supremacy, NFL and North Korea. Initially broadcast at the BET Hip Hop Awards, the celebrated rap culminated in a searing ultimatum to his fans - to support him or the President.
Kendrick Lamar
Rapper Kendrick Lamar teamed up with U2 for "XXX," a track that delves deep into religion as well as America's political landscape. Trump is name-checked in the second verse which speaks of "murder on my street" and "homicidal thoughts." "Donald Trump's in office," Lamar raps, "We lost Barack and promised to never doubt him again."
Snoop Dogg
One artist who made it their aim to tear into Trump's presidency was Snoop Dogg. He collaborated with BADBADNOTGOOD featuring Kaytranada on new track "Lavender," the video of which depicted Trump as a clown who by the climax is seen getting held up at gunpoint.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments