SNL spoofs Presidential Alert and Cricket Wireless in one hilarious video

Leave it to Saturday Night Live to satirize two subjects with a single stone, uh, video. Last night, the 43-year old comedy show took aim at the Presidential Alert test that most U.S. smartphones received last Wednesday at 2:18pm ET. This system will be used to warn the American people about a national emergency, catastrophic weather conditions, and other dire situations.

Calling the message a Presidential Alert is actually a misnomer. The content of the message is not written by President Donald Trump, although the president can decide when to send one out. There is actually a law called The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization Act of 2015 that prevents Trump, or any future president, from using the system for anything other than alerting the public about a national disaster.

While we don't want to give the whole gag away, the premise of the SNL video is that the content of these alerts are written by Trump in the same style he employs on Twitter. In real life, 75% of the U.S. population was sent a Presidential Alert as over 100 stateside carriers participated in the test.

According to SNL though, customers of one pre-paid wireless company did not receive the alert. To find out more, click on the video at the top of this article. And remember, this is only a joke.

source: SNL