Congressman: Trump is running a ‘Make America Hate Again’ campaign

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez took the floor on Wednesday to shame NBC executives for allowing Donald Trump to host Saturday Night Live.

The Democratic congressman from Chicago began his five-minute speech by taking a stab at Trump’s “Make America great again” slogan, dubbing it the “Make America Hate Again” campaign.

“To put Donald Trump on the air in American living rooms on the signature comedy show of one of the most important national networks – after saying that Mexicans are rapists, drug-dealers and criminals – that is a corporate blunder too big to be ignored,” Rep. Gutiérrez told the House, standing next to a sign he brought that read #RacismIsntFunny.

NBC fired Trump in June after “he said Mexicans, Latinos, and other immigrants were rapists, criminals, and drug-dealers,” Gutiérrez noted in his speech. The network said it was ending its relationship with Trump “due to recent derogatory statements.”

But the breakup only lasted a few a months. Now the controversial GOP presidential hopeful is scheduled to be back on the network as the host of SNL on November 7th.

Gutiérrez made it clear he’s asking NBC to cancel Trump’s appearance, and not calling on the public to boycott the show. “Like most Americans I stopped watching SNL years ago,” he said, making a dig at the show’s ratings. SNL saw an all-time low in viewership last year.

Gutiérrez went on to pose questions for the parent companies of SNL. “What happened, Comcast, Universal, and NBC? Now, three months later, have Donald Trump’s words been expunged? Did I miss an apology on one of his almost nightly TV appearances? Has he confessed his racist and hateful call to action?”

The representative, known for his pro-immigrant rights speeches, asked the House to consider his argument by standing in his shoes. “Would the writers be thinking up sketches for Trump if he had slandered an entire gender rather than an entire ethnic group?” he asked.

“If Donald Trump had said gays and lesbians were murdering and raping Americans, would he get to host the show?”

Then he made things more personal by unveiling a picture of Lorne Michaels, SNL’s creator and producer who was born in Canada.

“I wonder if things might have been different if Donald Trump was calling all Canadians rapists, murderers and drug dealers,” Gutiérrez said.

An online petition created by the immigrant rights group America’s Voice and the left-leaning MoveOn.org calling NBC to “dump Trump” as host of SNL has received nearly 140,000 signatures.

NBC is saying it is not commenting on the campaign to cancel Trump’s appearance.