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Rosie O’Donnell won’t play Steve Bannon on SNL despite Twitter profile pic

By Hector Cruz

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Rosie O’Donnell’s rep has confirmed that the comedian won’t portray Trump strategist Steve Bannon on SNL.

Ever since Melissa McCarthy made a surprise appearance as White House press secretary Sean Spicer last weekend, there’s been several female entertainers who have stepped up to declare their desire to portray various members of Donald Trump’s cabinet on SNL, including Margaret Cho, Christine Baranski and Rosie O’Donnell, who publicly feuded with Trump for several years. The actress soon retweeted suggestions from fans urging her to play Steve Bannon, who thus far has been played by SNL cast member Mikey Day dressed as the Grim Reaper, writing that she was “available” to play the president’s chief strategist.

O’Donnell furthered speculation after she changed her Twitter avatar to a picture of her depicted as Bannon. However, sources from her camp told Variety that there are no plans for her to appear on the program, while an NBC rep refused to comment on “guest rumors.”

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Baranski, who expressed interest in impersonating Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, and Cho’s suggestion that she play Ben Carson, as well as O’Donnell’s interest in lampooning Bannon came about not just due to McCarthy’s gender bending role, but also following reports that Trump was especially irked that Spicer was portrayed by a woman, making him look weak in the process.

O’Donnell and Trump’s feud stems from her time on The View where she mocked the then-Apprentice host and beauty pageant owner in 2006. The pair went on to trade insults through the media for years, which became a point of contention in the campaign, with his comments about O’Donnell coming up in a debate co-moderated by Megyn Kelly where the Republican argued that she deserved the “very tough things” he said to her because she was “very vicious to me.”

Next: Newspaper apologizes for using Alec Baldwin on SNL instead of Trump

Tonight’s episode is likely to include several politically themed sketches given that Trump impersonator Alec Baldwin is taking helm of the show, marking his historic 17th time as host. He’ll be joined by Ed Sheeran as musical guest.

SNL airs tonight at 11:30 p.m. on NBC.

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