“It’s better to start with low expectations. That way you have nowhere to go but up.”
That was one of the first lines delivered by Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live.”
Trump, who hosted the show to much hype, was playing President Trump in a fabulously successful White House.
But real-life Trump doesn’t follow that advice. Just a month ago, he predicted to the New York Times a “major collapse” in the Republican presidential race and a “depression” in TV ratings if he dropped out prematurely.
Set by himself and by others, the expectations for Trump’s media appearances are as huge as his ego.
He has helped the first three Republican presidential debates reach 61 million viewers – a feat that took 13 debates in Trump-less 2011.
On Saturday night, you could argue that Trump was a victim of those expectations. He was mostly just so-so. His lines fell flat. He came across as stiff and unnatural, although he appeared to relax toward the end of the show.
Trump did his best, but he’s not a natural comedian.
That doesn’t mean Trump’s “SNL” moment wasn’t politically noteworthy.
Before the show, Trump told Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly he had to nix some skit ideas because they were “too risque.”
“I want to win Iowa,” he said.
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