The cast of “Saturday Night Live” pampered audiences by praising Donald Trump in the series’ first episode after his election.
In cold open court, cast members discussed Trump’s victory and warned that “now, thanks to the Supreme Court, there are no more guardrails.”
“And that’s why we at SNL like to say to Donald Trump: ‘We’ve been with you all along,'” Kenan Thompson added.
“We never wavered in our support for you, even when others doubted!” Bowen Young added sarcastically, before Sarah Sherman said: “Everyone at this point believes in you.”
“Everyone at this point voted for you!” Marcelo Hernandez added.
The cast continued to heap false praise on the next president, with Colin Jost throwing his “Weekend Update” co-host Michael Che under the bus, calling him “weak media.” (Jost later appeared on screen wearing a January 6-style Vikings helmet.)
After Thompson and Hernandez joked that the SNL crew should be left off Trump’s enemies list (if he has one), James Austin Johnson came out showing off fake muscles and a red Rambo headband as “Hot Jacked Trump.”
“From now on, we’re going to portray Trump in a very interesting way because, frankly, he’s my hero,” Johnson said. “And he will become a wonderful president and eventually a king. We love you, my friend!”
Then Dana Carvey, who previously played Joe Biden, entered the frame with the new impression: Elon Musk. Carvey jumped up and down and did some goofy dance moves, dressed in Malik It’s so cool and so much fun, but there’s a small chance it will explode and everyone will die haha!”
With plenty of laughs, the sketch was in stark contrast to SNL’s post-election cold open in 2016, which featured Kate McKinnon performing an earnest rendition of “Hallelujah” as Hillary Clinton.
Notably absent from this cold open is Maya Rudolph, who appeared in every cold open of Season 50 as Kamala Harris. In last week’s pre-election episode, Harris herself made a surprise appearance on “SNL” and appeared opposite Rudolph.
“Saturday Night Live” debuted its lineup of guest stars for the 2024 election in the cold open of the first episode of Season 50, on Sept. 28. Andy Samberg was revealed as Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, and Jim Gaffigan played her colleague Tim Walz. Carvey claimed Joe Biden. Cast members Johnson and Bowen Yang play Donald Trump and J.D. Vance this season.
