Mike Myers says SNL Canada protest was ‘angry’ response to Donald Trump

Comedian Mike Myers has revealed why he decided to make a political statement in defence of Canada on Saturday Night Live.

Myers, 61, hails from Toronto, and appeared in the comedy show’s curtain call in March after making a surprise cameo in the opening sketch, playing Elon Musk. The tech billionaire was left unimpressed with Myers’ depiction, responding: “Humour fails when it lies.”

Standing with host Shane Gillis and musical guest Tate McRae, the SNL alumnus wore a black t-shirt featuring the slogan “Canada is not for sale” alongside his home nation’s red and white flag. He also mouthed the words “elbows up” as the credits rolled on the episode, which marked Myers’ first SNL appearance in 10 years.

The protest was in response to US president Donald Trump referring to Canada as the “51st state” as well as remarking that it was “not a real country”.

“I got angrier and angrier,” Myers told the New York Times. “What happened came from my ankles and from my brain and from my heart, and it was not about me – it was about my country, I wanted to send a message home to say that I’m with you, you know.”

Myers moved to the US in 1988 to progress his career in the entertainment industry and he has since had two streets named after him in his home country.

He said of his satire of Musk: “To the extent that Elon Musk is involved in our democratic government, it goes against how I feel as a Canadian. We don’t have a distrust of the government. We have a belief in good government.”

The comic felt it was important to make his point on the show he appeared on from 1989 to 1995 saying: “Fascism doesn’t like to be ridiculed; it likes to be feared. Satire is an important tool in the toolbox to say that this is not normal — that the cuts he’s making are not normal.”

Speaking about Trump’s policies Myers said it “goes against how I feel as a Canadian … [and] belief in good government.”

He added: “What’s happened has really hurt our feelings. We love America. We love you guys. We don’t understand what this madness is.”

Myers, who is married to an American citizen and has three American children, continued: “I am also an American citizen, and I took my oath very seriously. That’s what’s so crazy. Americans are the last people you would think would ever be a threat to us.”