In the first post-election episode of Saturday Night Live, the stressed cast members emphasized how they absolutely, definitely, 100% have always supported Donald Trump. And they even gave him a new, “flattering” portrayal on the show.
November 9’s cold open started with Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, and Kenan Thompson somberly recapping Tuesday’s election results.
“Donald Trump, who tried to forcibly overturn the results of the last election, was returned to office by an overwhelming majority,” Gardner said.
“This is the same Donald Trump who openly called for vengeance against his political enemies,” Thompson observed.
“And now, thanks to the Supreme Court, there are no guardrails,” Yang said.
“Nothing to protect the people who are brave enough to speak out against him,” added Nwodim.
And that’s why the SNL players — joined on stage by cast mates Sarah Sherman and Marcello Hernández — are saying now they’ve been with Trump “all along.” They’ve “never wavered” in their support. They believed in Trump, voted for Trump, see themselves in Trump, and want their future children to look up to Trump.
Then Colin Jost joined the gang and threw his “Weekend Update” co-anchor under the bus. “Mr. Trump, Your Honor, we know that you say things that are controversial sometimes, but really, you’re just speaking the truth,” he said. “And I hate how the ‘lamestream’ media — Michael Che — tries to spin it to make you look foolish.”
And in case Trump is keeping a list of his enemies, the cast members vowed to rat out any supporters in their midst, including the NBC show’s new cast members. “That’s Jane Wickline, Ashley Padilla, and Emil Wakim — you can find their home addresses online,” Thompson said. “Hail Trump!”
Then the gang introduced their new impression of the Apprentice star-turned-politician: Hot Jacked Trump. It’s James Austin Johnson, impersonating Trump again, but in a muscle suit this time.
“That’s right, it’s me, Hot Jacked Trump,” Johnson’s Trump said. “They finally got the body right. But from now on, we’re going to do a very flattering portrayal of Trump because he’s, frankly, my hero, and he’s going to make an incredible president and, eventually, king. We love you, buddy.”
And after debuting that Trump 2.0 — “which is also what I blew on a breathalyzer Wednesday morning,” Yang quipped — the cast introduced another new impression, with Dana Carvey taking on the role of Trump-supporting tech mogul Elon Musk.
“I run the country now, and it’s gonna be like one of my rockets, you know?” Carvey’s Musk said. “They’re super cool and super fun, but there’s a slight chance it could blow up and everybody dies. Ha ha ha! I’m Dark MAGA! See you in the White House!”
On YouTube, SNL viewers raved about the cold open. “I love how they handled this,” one wrote. “It’s difficult to ignore the elephant in the room, and this is just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek needed to still be funny.”
Another wrote, “This really was a great choice. They couldn’t just laugh it off without looking tone-deaf. They couldn’t ignore it. So they embraced it in an utterly absurd and unexpected way. Fantastic move.”
Someone else commented, “Bravo to SNL for leaning in, and with brilliance. This made my weekend.”
“They are handling this better than most of us,” a fourth commenter wrote. “Thanks for helping [to lighten] our load.”
Saturday Night Live, Saturdays, 11:30/10:30c, NBC
