# SNL writer suspended indefinitely for Barron Trump tweet **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993 "2017-01-24T00:54:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/1 "2017-01-24T00:54:39Z")
[Link to story](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-entertainment-news-updates-snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-1485207135-htmlstory.html) > [@](#): > > Katie Rich, a “Saturday Night Live” writer who mocked Barron Trump, the youngest child of President Donald Trump, in a tweet during Friday’s inaugural festivities, has been suspended from the late-night comedy show. > > Rich was suspended immediately after the tweet, and will be suspended indefinitely, according to a source familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment publicly. > > In the original message, Rich predicted that 10-year-old Barron would become “the country’s first homeschool shooter.” The message was soon deleted by Rich, who also temporarily deactivated her personal Twitter account, but not before it drew widespread condemnation online. Good decision. Whatever our politics we should always leave the kids out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/2 "2017-01-24T01:00:00Z")
Agreed, the kids shouldn’t be brought into it. No matter what side you favor, leave the kids alone. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/3 "2017-01-24T01:04:43Z")
Please. They call them jokes.It was open season on Chelsea Clinton in the 90s. I can’t see piling onto this woman at the moment. It will be used as a distraction so the plutocrats can pick your country clean, while you whine about it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/4 "2017-01-24T01:05:53Z")
i thought all decent people understood the minor children are off-limits. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/5 "2017-01-24T01:07:37Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Please. They call them jokes.\*\*It was open season on Chelsea Clinton in the 90s. \*\* > > I can’t see piling onto this woman at the moment. It will be used as a distraction so the plutocrats can pick your country clean, while you whine about it. No reason to match. Remember “they go low, we go high”? Stay high. Barron shouldn’t be the target of tit for tat. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/6 "2017-01-24T01:07:52Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Please. They call them jokes.It was open season on Chelsea Clinton in the 90s. Two wrongs still don’t make a right. How can you not be in favor of some fucking decency? > [@](#): > > I can’t see piling onto this woman at the moment. It will be used as a distraction so the plutocrats can pick your country clean, while you whine about it. I, for one, can focus on more than one thing at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/7 "2017-01-24T01:18:48Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Two wrongs still don’t make a right. Agreed. However, for the benefit of Republicans/conservatives who are feeling sanctimonious about this unacceptable behavior, it’s worth pointing out some of the things [their side have said about a President’s minor children in order to take political potshots at their parent(s)](http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obama-girls-targeted-criticism-again-conservatives). > [@](#): > > In 2010, during the BP oil spill crisis, Glenn Beck mocked Malia for reportedly asking President Obama about the clean-up. > > “Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?” said Beck, imitating the president’s daughter. “Ask ‘Daddy’ why he ‘hates black people so much.’ ” The conservative radio host also mocked Malia’s intelligence, saying: “That’s the level of their education, that they’re coming to — they’re coming to Daddy and saying, ‘Daddy, did you plug the hole yet?’ “ […] > > Last year, following President Obama‘s statement that he would support the selling of Plan B, a birth control product, to girls as young as 15, Fox News host Andrea Tantaros speculated about the sex life of Malia, who was 14 years old at the time. > > “Are they gonna put her on birth control? Because he’s very concerned with contraceptives and pharmaceuticals that are going in the mouths of everybody else’s 15-year-old daughter,” Tantaros said […] > > Rush Limbaugh famously compared Chelsea Clinton to a dog and said Amy Carter was the “most unattractive presidential daughter in the history of the country.” I never heard of Limbaugh or Tantaros or Beck being suspended or disciplined in any way for any of those remarks. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/8 "2017-01-24T01:32:36Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Please. They call them jokes.It was open season on Chelsea Clinton in the 90s. Actually, as I remember, as Chelsea’s parents became the first family, Mike Myers and Dana Carvey on their Wayne’s World segment on SNL made some mild references to Chelsea’s looks, i.e. “a babe in waiting”. Hillary immediately chided them, and most media agreed, so much so that “Leave Chelsea alone.” became a catchphrase for a brief period. The offending jokes were dropped from SNL rebroadcasts, and the most lampooning that Chelsea got after that was a cameo appearance in _Beavis and Butthead Do America_. It’s often mentioned that the Clintons did a extraordinary job of keeping Chelsea’s childhood in the White House fairly normal. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/9 "2017-01-24T01:35:59Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Two wrongs still don’t make a right. How can you not be in favor of some fucking decency? > > I, for one, can focus on more than one thing at a time. I like to think I can too. But the media can’t, most of the populace can’t, and I think democracy is having a lot of trouble doing it right at the moment. So why are we so special? It’s not the fact of not being “able” to do it. We distract ourselves so we don’t have to look at what we don’t want to. The kid is suffering and it’s not SNL writers that are doing it. He is being used like a doll. He’s always there a little lost at these orwellian events like the little child that donnie left behind in becoming a vacuous needy moral hole. He looks like a perfect symbol. But the family is totally unconscious. He is being brought up in a home where he has a whole floor to himself. He is going to need a lot of helping. Protecting him from tweets is last on my list. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/10 "2017-01-24T01:38:20Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Actually, as I remember, as Chelsea’s parents became the first family, Mike Myers and Dana Carvey on their Wayne’s World segment on SNL made some mild references to Chelsea’s looks, i.e. “a babe in waiting”. Hillary immediately chided them, and most media agreed, so much so that “Leave Chelsea alone.” became a catchphrase for a brief period. The offending jokes were dropped from SNL rebroadcasts, and the most lampooning that Chelsea got after that was a cameo appearance in _Beavis and Butthead Do America_. > > It’s often mentioned that the Clintons did a extraordinary job of keeping Chelsea’s childhood in the White House fairly normal. SNL never has done a joke about Barron. In the 90s Limbaugh was vicious to chelsea. That might have been the origin of the catchphrase. It was necessary. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/11 "2017-01-24T01:45:00Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Agreed. However, for the benefit of Republicans/conservatives who are feeling sanctimonious about this unacceptable behavior, it’s worth pointing out some of the things [their side have said about a President’s minor children in order to take political potshots at their parent(s)](http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obama-girls-targeted-criticism-again-conservatives). > > I never heard of Limbaugh or Tantaros or Beck being suspended or disciplined in any way for any of those remarks. And they should have been. What’s your point? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/12 "2017-01-24T01:50:19Z")
She worked there… but what has this to do with SNL? She’s not Lorne Michaels. Was she on the clock when she posted it? Whats the time stamp say? Also, is this big because of who she worked for or because of who she tweeted about? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/13 "2017-01-24T01:53:44Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > And they should have been. What’s your point? Glad you asked. My point’s [right over here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19944928&postcount=394). (Note that I wasn’t accusing you personally of sanctimony or hypocrisy.) ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/14 "2017-01-24T01:57:42Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Good decision. Whatever our politics we should always leave the kids out of it. And maybe even disabilities. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/15 "2017-01-24T01:59:34Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > Agreed, the kids shouldn’t be brought into it. No matter what side you favor, leave the kids alone. I was pretty sure we could all say leave the kids out of this, but apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/16 "2017-01-24T02:05:02Z")
Reject the joke loudly. Go on to reject all jokes that are punching down just as loudly. Join us, conservatives! JOIIINNNNN USSSSSSS!!! ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/17 "2017-01-24T02:15:53Z")
‘I think peoples families are off limits and people’s children are especially off limit.’ Barack Obama, 2008 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/18 "2017-01-24T02:21:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I was pretty sure we could all say leave the kids out of this, but apparently not. (Just in case there’s misunderstanding, I’m just using **Patx2** ’s post to agree with the sentiment, and say I would have thought this was obvious but other posts in this thread make the case that apparently it’s not. On re-read, I thought it may have looked like I was trying to contradict or something by replying to it, so I just wanted to clarify.) ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/19 "2017-01-24T02:35:06Z")
Can we make fun of his adult children though, like Donald Jr.? Is 18 the cutoff? (just to be clear) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993/20 "2017-01-24T02:50:48Z")
I’m not even sure how the joke is supposed to be funny. Like… who’s he going to shoot? His mother? His father? The servants? Beyond the minor conceptual absurdity of a “home school shooter” as a general concept, what’s the point? There is _some_ degree of extremely mild humour involving the kids that I think is fair and harmless, i.e. I remember some trivial kerfuffle about the ritual “pardoning of the turkey” that for reason the U.S. president gets roped into. Some commentators had made mildly disparaging remarks (which struck me as stupid) about Sasha and Malia’s rather dubious attitude while watching Obama go through the process, but Jon Stewart pointed out that they were behaving like _any_ teen-aged girls would when watching their father doing something silly. “Sure, Dad, whatever… [eyeroll]…” So if the kids do something funny at a public event, sure… get some mild laughs out of it, but suggesting the kids are stupid or ugly or potentially violent or whatever… fuck you, get a life. Once the kid turns 18 and especially if they have a sustained role of some kind in their parent’s administration, fair game. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snl-writer-suspended-indefinitely-for-barron-trump-tweet/777993.md?page=2)