In this prerecorded segment (above) from the weekend's episode, "SNL" delivers, imagining a worst-case scenario of Trump treating the system like he treats Twitter: as an extension of his aggrieved psyche. Cast members including Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon play everyday Americans whose days are interrupted by a steady stream of Trump alerts, including "Failing New York Times Says I Cheated On Taxes. Duh! It's called being smart!," "Warning: White men are under attack" and "Puerto Rico is fine now! I guess the paper towels worked!"
The twist comes in the end when it suddenly turns out the segment is an ad spoof. A Cricket Wireless customer (Heidi Gardner) realizes she's been spared the Trump texts because, well, she's a Cricket Wireless customer. Cue the announcer's voice-over: "Cricket Wireless. Now aren't you happy we have awful service?"
On Sunday morning, Cricket tweeted this response to the spoof:
Getting pranked by #SNL is the mother of all honors. 🙏 Thank you @Lesdoggg, but for the record, we have more 4G LTE coverage than @TMobile https://t.co/MVIMf8lfYk pic.twitter.com/CQ0F4VNtHK
— Cricket Wireless (@Cricketnation) October 7, 2018