Thousands of people have had had their bank accounts closed without explanation from their banks. Saturday Night Live treated those victims like a joke.
Attempting to mock former President Donald Trump, the writers at Saturday Night Live suggested that Trump had a mental “stumble” and made up the term “de-bank” during a campaign rally. But for the countless people that have had their financial accounts frozen or shut down, de-banking is far from a joke.
The issue arose after Trump told a New Hampshire audience that he would not allow banks and regulators to shut down people’s accounts — a practice often referred to as de-banking. Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost said in response, “I don’t know what the hell de-bank means, but you might have to take ‘de-ambulance’ to see ‘de-doctor.’” The studio audience laughed, but many Americans across the country were not as amused.
Unfortunately, getting removed from the financial system is a problem many Americans have been forced to contend with. In 2023, The New York Times detailed the stories of several people in the United States whose bank accounts were arbitraril closed without so much as an explanation. One customer described the experience, saying, “I feel that I [at least] deserve to get an explanation,” and that the “way they closed my accounts made me feel like a criminal.”
