In the latest episode of Saturday Night Live, the cold open featured James Austin Johnson’s portrayal of former President Donald Trump crashing the GOP debate stage, delivering sharp roasts of the candidates present. The sketch parodied the recent NBC News-hosted Republican presidential primary debate, with Kenan Thompson as moderator Lester Holt and Chloe Fineman, Ego Nwodim, Molly Kearney, Devon Walker, and John Higgins portraying the candidates.
The comedic moment escalated when the spotlight shifted to Johnson’s Trump, who embarked on a humorous and eccentric tirade. Trump, in the skit, mocked the candidates and touted his own superiority, referencing real-world events such as indictments and trials. The impersonation playfully touched on the polling percentages of the candidates, including a playful jab at Tim Scott’s low numbers, comparing them to skim milk.
The sketch also poked fun at Vivek Ramaswamy, emphasizing the challenge of pronouncing his name and highlighting various aspects that supposedly align with Trump’s base, except for one crucial factor: race. The satirical portrayal humorously lampooned the dynamics of the debate and the characters involved, providing a comedic take on the current political landscape.
“DONALD TRUMP”: How adorable they actually think they’ve got a chance. Sad in some ways, but in other ways funny. Can you believe it folks? 91 indictments, four trials. And I’m still the best choice. Now they’re all stuck behind me. And there’s nothing they can do about it, just like in real life. 3%. 8%. 14%. 5%.
And how about poor Tim Scott, Huh? 1%. Very low. Lower, then, frankly. Milk. Apparently there’s a milk lower than 1%. People are calling it skim. We’ve never had it. Don’t drink it.
But we like Skim Scott. We love him. And his girlfriend. Not a lot of chemistry between those to right? They make me and Melania look like Taylor and Travis.
And how about Vivek Ramaswamy? We like to say Ramaswamy! But do we like him? He makes it hard, doesn’t he? Folks, this getting checks. A lot of boxes. He’s rich, is rude. He’s got weird hair. He’s a lot like me. Except for one thing that matters a lot to my horrible, horrible base: White! Sad. He’s going nowhere.
As the cold open concluded, it maintained the tradition of breaking character and exclaiming “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” This marks another instance of SNL using political satire to engage with current events and inject humor into the national conversation.
