American TV show Saturday Night Live has indefinitely suspended one of its writers, Katie Rich, for her post on Twitter that said United States President Donald Trump’s 10-year-old son Barron Trump would be the “country’s first home school shooter”, AP reported, quoting an unidentified official on Monday. Her post drew severe flak for insulting a child, and the programme did not add her name to the end credits in its last episode.

Rich had deleted her post – shared on the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration – and deactivated her Twitter account after the backlash, but she reactivated it on Monday to post an apology, saying her “actions and offensive words were inexcusable”. National Broadcasting Company, the network that airs SNL, did not comment on the matter, AP reported.

SNL has been carrying spoofs on Donald Trump since his election campaign days, with actor Alec Baldin’s portrayal of the president boosting the show’s ratings. On January 16, Trump had said on Twitter, “NBC News is bad but Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television!”

Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton joined the debate and said Barron Trump “deserves the chance every child does – to be a kid.” The show had mocked her when her father, Bill Clinton, was president, prompting cast member Mike Myers to write an apology to the family.