NBC's Saturday Night Live has tapped Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to host this weekend's show — a move that has angered many Latino groups. Trump has stirred controversy with his comments that Mexican immigrants coming to the U.S. are bringing drugs and crime. Many say the show is providing a platform for his views.

The move also reverses course for NBC, which had been trying to distance itself from Trump after he made those comments. The network dropped his Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants and fired him from "The Apprentice." NPR TV Critic Eric Deggans wrote a column about the decision. He says it's partly driven by ratings. But he adds that Saturday Night Live hasn't been a part of the political zeitgeist in the same way its satire of the candidates has been in the past. 

"This is a way to take the guy who's sort of at the center of the political conversation and put him at the center of their show," Deggans said.

Deggans spoke to WNYC's Jami Floyd.