The cast of “Saturday Night Live” faked audiences out by praising Donald Trump in the series’ first episode after his election.
In the cold open, cast members somberly discussed Trump’s victory and warned that “now, thanks to the Supreme Court, there are no guardrails.”
“And that is why, we at ‘SNL’ would like to say to Donald Trump: We have been with you all along,” Kenan Thompson added.
“We have never wavered in our support of you, even when others doubted you!” Bowen Yang added sarcastically, before Sarah Sherman said, “Every single person on this stage believed in you.”
“Every single person on this stage voted for you!” added Marcello Hernandez.
The cast continued its faux-praise of the next president, as Colin Jost threw his “Weekend Update” co-host Michael Che under the bus, calling him the “lame-stream media.” (Jost later appeared on screen wearing a Jan. 6-style viking helmet.)
After Thompson and Hernandez joked that the “SNL” cast should be left off of Trump’s list of enemies (should he have one), James Austin Johnson came out flexing fake muscles and a red headband as “Hot Jacked Trump.”
“From now on we’re going to do a very flattering portrayal of Trump because he’s frankly my hero,” Johnson said. “And he’s going to make an incredible president and eventually king. We love you buddy!”
Then Dana Carvey, who was previously playing Joe Biden, entered the frame with the new impression: Elon Musk. Cloaked in the X owner’s signature black on black, Carvey jumped up and down and performed some dorky dance moves before saying in an exaggerated South African accent, “Check it out: dark MAGA. Yeah! But seriously, I run the country now. America’s going to be like one of my rockets. They’re super cool and super fun, but there’s a slight chance it could blow up and everybody dies. Haha!”
With plenty of laughs, the sketch stood in stark contrast to “SNL’s” post-election cold open in 2016, which featured Kate McKinnon performing a serious rendition of “Hallelujah” as Hillary Clinton.
Notably missing from this cold open was Maya Rudolph, who has appeared in every cold open of Season 50 as Kamala Harris. In last week’s pre-election episode, Harris herself made a surprise cameo on “SNL” and acted opposite Rudolph.
“Saturday Night Live” debuted its ensemble of guest stars for the 2024 election in the cold open of the Season 50 premiere episode, on Sept. 28. Andy Samberg was revealed as Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff, Jim Gaffigan played her running mate Tim Walz, and Carvey claimed Joe Biden. Cast members Johnson and Bowen Yang have been playing Donald Trump and JD Vance this season.
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