Former SNL Host Attends Trump’s Trial: ‘Sign Of Friendship’

Former Saturday Night Live host Joe Piscopo turned heads after appearing at the latest trial hearing of former President Donald Trump, saying it should come as no surprise that he would show support to a friend in need.

Speaking on Fox News, Piscopo, who played a variety of characters on the late-night show between 1980 and 1984, defended his appearance while telling host Neil Cavuto that he wanted “just to show respect” and solidarity with Trump in the face of felony charges in his hush money trial.

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“When this trial started to unfold, and if you layer it back like you do on the television or on the radio, we still don’t know what the crime is. I said, ‘I’m going to show up just to show respect to President Trump.’ That’s all that was, a sign of friendship,” Piscopo explained, Fox News reported. “I’ve known him 100 years, and we’ve always had a nice relationship. So, I wanted to show loyalty because there’s none of that anymore. And the president showed me great loyalty in Wildwood.”

The loyalty was purportedly returned by Trump during a recent rally in New Jersey where Piscopo said he was given an exclusive interview. Trump “doesn’t forget” about those who have stood with him over the years, he added.

“With Donald Trump, I knew him when times were good, times were bad. The president, I never forgot, went down the shore to one of his hotels. And it was one of those down times in my career, which is more often than not,” he began.

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“I went in there, I checked in the hotel, I get the word from Donald – ‘The Donald’ back then. ‘Whatever Joe needs.’ You don’t forget that, you know. So say what you will, I’m a guy of loyalty and friendship.”

Sources close to Trump say the cavalcade of high-profile supporters at his trial is not a campaign stunt; rather they are “genuinely” coming to “support their friend,” one person told the outlet. In addition to longtime friends like Piscopo, a steady stream of elected Republicans have expressed outrage on behalf of Trump in what has become a tryout of sorts for the vice presidential spot on his ticket. Some like Ohio Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum are reported to be among a short list of contenders and have accompanied the former president at other stops along the trail.

Piscopo closed by telling Cavuto “We got to stop with the hate” when it comes to the state of American politics today.

“What happened when [he was] ‘The Donald’ and I was ‘Jersey Joe?’ We were hanging out in New York, man. Yeah, I miss those days. We got to stop with the hate,” he said.

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