Donald Trump is scheduled to host “Saturday Night Live” this week. On Friday’s episode of “The O’Reilly Factor,” the reality TV star said he nixed a number of potential skits for fear of further depressing his sinking poll numbers.

“Yes, I had to. There were a couple that were too risqué,” Trump told Fox News host Bill O’Reilly when asked if he’d rejected some of the proposed scripts. “Because, you know, the poll just came down. I’m leading in Iowa. I want to stay leading in Iowa.”

Trump continues to lead in national polls, as well as in Iowa, which hosts the first primary election and is considered influential in altering the course of the election. But challenger Ben Carson has been making gains on the businessman: The latest CNN poll shows Carson trailing Trump by a mere 2 percentage points, which falls within the margin of error.

Trump further explained that “SNL” writers produce far more ideas than can be used in a single episode.

“I walk into the room, there are 100 [writers] — and they’re all about 17 years old, OK?” Trump said. “They come up with many, many skits, and you pick the ones you think you like.“

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