James Austin Johnson returned as Donald Trump in the Saturday Night Live, this time with the former president offering a critique of each of his rivals as they participated in the most recent Republican debate.
The sketch — which had the five rivals freezing in place as Trump walked on stage — was a bit of a riff on NBC News, which hosted Wednesday night’s gathering. Given Trump’s wide lead in the polls and has refused to participate in the debates, the events essentially have been a battle to be the Trump alternative.
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“How adorable!” Johnson as Trump said as he first took the stage. “They actually think they’ve got a chance. Sad in some ways, but in other ways, funny.”
“Can you believe it, folks? Ninety-one indictments, four trials and I am still the best choice.”
The sketch actually opened with the start of the debate — including the NBC News graphics — and Lester Holt (Kenan Thompson). “Welcome to the Republican kids table debate,” Holt said.
Holt’s first question was to Vivek Ramaswamy (Ego Nwodim), who told him, “I would like to begin by not answering your question and instead use this platform to say, ‘Her daughter is on TikTok.’”
Then, Nikki Haley (Heidi Gardner) shot back, “Keep my daughter’s name out of your voice!”
In fact, that was an actual moment from Wednesday’s debate, as Ramaswamy referenced Haley’s daughter’s TikTok use even though Haley herself has bashed the social media platform. What got left out of the SNL sketch was when Haley actually said to Ramaswamy, “You’re just scum.”
When Trump arrived on set, his five rivals went still. “They are all stuck behind me and there is nothing they can do about it, just like in real life,” Trump said, then going to their poll numbers.
“Three percent, eight percent, 14%, five percent, and how about poor Tim Scott. One percent — very low. Lower than, frankly, milk,” he said.
More to come.
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