Twitter campaign wants ‘SNL’ to cancel Trump

Latino groups had been pushing “SNL” to address the imbalance long before the Trump dust-up.

In the wake of the news that GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump will host the November 7 installment of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”, another Republican contender, Sen.

In the letter Gutiérrez said having Trump host the show represented a “level of endorsement that says to America that every hateful and racist thing Donald Trump has said is since the moment he launched his campaign is acceptable and no big deal”.

Gutierrez’s remarks add to mounting pressure aimed at NBC which began with a letter from the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda which is a coalition of 40 civil rights and policy organizations.

But as the date approaches, SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels and NBCUniversal Chief Executive Stephen Burke are being bombarded with online petitions and open letters, particularly from Latino groups, imploring them to reconsider.

A MoveOn.org petition telling Saturday Night Live to “dump Donald Trump” had received 141,795 signatures as of this writing, and one on Change.org had received 227,763. Celebrities like actor John Leguizamo and comedian Margaret Cho have joined the social media protest.

While Trump’s other NBC appearances have drawn little controversy, his scheduled visit to “Saturday Night Live” is generating much more flak – whether it’s because the show is an effective promotional platform for a candidate, or because the booking is seen as a cynical ratings ploy by “SNL“, or both.

An NBC spokesman declined to give DailyMail.com a comment on the matter.

“There’s no question that this issue has struck a nerve in the Latino community and beyond, and there is growing energy and intensity”, Janet Murguía, president of the National Council of La Raza, told the Times.

Trump talked to CNN about the Latino groups’ efforts to boycott his appearance and seemed unfazed by the controversy.

The Congressman criticised NBC for its decision to allow Trump back on the air after firing him from “The Apprentice” because his presidential campaign had made him a “ratings and comedy bonanza”.

Most Latinos, including LGBT Latinos, are furious at Trump being given the honor of hosting the storied variety show.