Donald Trump has infuriated viewers who had their favorite TV shows rudely interrupted by the president’s rambling primetime address to the nation.
Major TV networks had to pause hit programs including Survivor, Chicago Hope, and The Masked Singer for 20 minutes on Wednesday night to accommodate Trump’s messaging.
However, as Trump, 79, attempted to distance himself from the global oil crisis caused by his war with Iran, viewers on social media vented about the presidential intrusion.
The Season 14 finale of the celebrity vocalist show The Masked Singer aired on Wednesday night on Fox.
Viewers were patiently waiting to see which of the remaining characters—Cat Witch, Crane, Pugcasso, or Galaxy Girl—would take off their masks to reveal the winner.
Mid-broadcast, Fox cut the show to air the president’s speech in which he stated he was prepared to increase the U.S. military response and bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age.”
One X user said there was nothing new in Trump’s remarks, “that couldn’t have waited until AFTER The Masked Singer.”
Another complained, “Donald Trump is just yapping as usual. I can’t believe I missed The Masked Singer for this.”
One account moaned, “Oh, come on! President Donald Trump is interrupting The Masked Singer finale to talk about the war in Iran. If I cared, I would watch the news, not The Masked Singer!”
There were also jokes, including someone posting, “I just turned on The Masked Singer. Who is under the Trump mask?”
Meanwhile, Survivor fans, known for their deep loyalty to the long-running franchise, also raged at the interruption, which paused the critical episode where the teams merge.
One post read “When Trump came on TV and interrupted Survivor, the recording stopped and now my wife won’t know what happened until tomorrow. She has been politically radicalized.”
“Most game changing episode of Survivor… and it’s stopped because a trump announcement,” one person grumbled.
Another said, “Guys, the presidential address is interrupting Survivor. This is the worst thing trump has ever done.”
A particularly angry viewer borrowed the president’s beloved all-caps mode to rant “PUT SURVIVOR BACK ON I DO NOT GIVE A F—K ABOUT TRUMP OR HIS BULLS—T.”
CBS had prepared Eastern and Central Survivor viewers with a statement that read “CBS News will air a Special Report for President Donald J Trump’s live primetime address to the nation from the White House, Wednesday, April 1, at 9 p.m., ET. CBS News’ Tony Dokoupil will anchor the coverage.”
