Donald Trump Performed Drake's 'Hotline Bling' Just as the Internet Foretold

The memes have spoken.

Back in July, we predicted that this will be the year of the viral election, and in just a few short months we've seen Hillary dancing the "Nae Nae", Bernie Sanders saying "on fleek," Ted Cruz cooking bacon on a gun, and Jeb's hoodie. So far, Saturday Night Live has been doing its own part to encourage the viralization of these candidates–Hillary talked with Hillary, Lary David is/was Bernie Sanders. So, it's no wonder that with Donald Trump's appearance on the show last night, viral expectations were high. The Vines were ready to loop. Rather than produce their own organic viral moment–as they did with David as Sanders–SNL recreated the already-popular mashups of Trump in Drake's "Hotline Bling" video. In this parody music video, Jay Pharoah as Drake rap-sings about his lame dad dance moves alongside the cast, Trump, and the glorious return of Martin Short's Ed Grimley. It's funny, but hasn't the Internet done this already? Is the Internet becoming TV, becoming real life, becoming nothing but memes, or simply becoming lame like old TV again? 

Do we exist IRL or do is existence just one looping GIF? 

Matt Miller

Matt Miller is a Brooklyn-based culture/lifestyle writer and music critic whose work has appeared in Esquire, Forbes, The Denver Post, and documentaries.