Strong production value and pretty well-executed stuff from Team SNL -- with Scarlet Johannson starring as Ivanka as an added bonus. The parody ad genre has inspired some of the show's best comedic work over the years, and the writers have returned to that well with this fake spot for a new women's fragrance. Funny? Eh. Somewhat, but probably more so to liberals. Fair game? Debatable, but probably. We'll discuss that in a moment. But first, here's the clip:
It's not entirely clear what the rules are these days when it comes to attacking or ridiculing political figures' family members. With Democrats, we're often told that families are totally off limits, which is why a story like this didn't get much play in the political press. Ask Sarah Palin if that standard applied to her kids. In fairness, a fading celebrity's nasty comment about President Trump's youngest son was met with near-universal scorn and scolding a few months back, so certain lines of decorum are still enforced. But what about Ivanka and Trump's other adult children? They were mainstays on the campaign trail and high-profile surrogates on behalf of their father, which makes them more justifiable objects of satire and criticism. And given Ivanka's hazy, quasi-official capacity within the administration, plus her husband's outsized influence, I don't think this comedy bit was out of bounds -- especially in the wake of the White House's unseemly involvement in the Nordstrom controversy. (Speaking of which, guess whose products are apparently back on sale at a rival chain?) That said, might lefties think twice about targeting someone who is widely reported to be a moderate-to-leftish influence on her father? On hot button issues from gay rights to climate change policy, Ivanka and Jared Kushner are said to be tugging Trump's decision-making process in a progressive direction behind the scenes. If that's the case, shouldn't liberals be grateful that she's a potent presence at the table while these matters are being discussed? SNL's 'Complicit' ad more or less calls her a sellout on women's issues for not abandoning her dad after the Access Hollywood audio tape emerged, suggesting that she should have cut bait and walked away from the campaign at that point.
Serious question, though -- admittedly rooted in a comedy skit: Would liberals have preferred that Ivanka publicly split with her father to protect her reputation among New York elites? Or would they rather have her ensconced within Trump's inner sanctum, perhaps occasionally sanding down the roughest edges, or steering her dad's team away from certain would-be excesses? Conversely, how do conservatives feel about a center-left figure wielding such disproportionate sway over the president's thinking? On one hand, she may continue to convince her father to endorse more federal mandates and spending programs. On the other hand, Neil Gorsuch is Neil Gorsuch. I'll leave you with another sketch from Saturday's show. This one at least pokes at the Left's hypocrisy and close-mindedness a bit, even if it isn't as scorching as this one. Via Allahpundit, who writes, "it’s a rare case of the show targeting both sides politically in the same segment. Part of the gag is a cuddly pug holding beliefs that the writers and most of the audience consider abhorrent, but the pro-Trump case is made in such a straightforward way that the exaggerated horror among the scientists becomes the punchline. He likes Trump, but he likes him for sympathetic reasons — he can’t be bought by Wall Street, we can’t afford more business as usual in D.C., etc. And the people around him, saturated in professional-class groupthink, are mortified...This is SNL reckoning with the possibility that Trumpers are people too — almost — and that there’s more to friendship than politics." Enjoy: