Trump denies report he demanded DOJ investigate Saturday Night Live — but insists the show's attacks on him were 'illegal'

On Tuesday, following a Daily Beast report that former President Donald Trump pushed the Justice Department to investigate the show "Saturday Night Live" for making fun of him, the former president released a statement angrily denying he did any such thing — but maintaining that SNL's satire of his behavior could somehow be illegal.

Satire is legal under the First Amendment and unlike things on Fox News, for example, SNL doesn't paint itself as "news."

"The story that I asked the Department of Justice to go after ratings-challenged (without Trump!) Saturday Night Live, and other late-night Losers, is total Fake News," wrote Trump. "It was fabricated, there were no sources, and yet the Lamestream Media goes with it."

However, he continued, "I do believe that the 100% one-sided shows should be considered an illegal campaign contribution from the Democrat [sic] Party, hard to believe I got 75 million votes (the most of any sitting President) despite all of that, together with a very Fraudulent Election." Decades of court precedent makes clear that satire is protected political speech.

Trump also gave a wink to the QAnon conspiracy theories that he could be "reinstated," saying that he expects to be back in office "2024 or before!"

Read the full statement below: