A Saturday Night Live cold open reacting to Donald Trump’s presidential election generated a mixed response online, with some wondering where the “comedy” was at the beginning of the sketch.
Saturday night’s portion began on an unusually serious note: cast members solemnly reflecting on the election result.
“For many people, including many people who were watching this show right now, the results were shocking and even horrifying,” Ego Nwodim said.
But as the script progressed, the sketch eventually took a humorous turn and divided some viewers.
After listing several reasons why people may be concerned about Trump’s presidency, Kenan Thompson said, “We at SNL would like to tell Donald Trump that we’ve been with you all along.”
The winner of the November 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump, was the center of SNL’s cold open Saturday night.
‘Hot Jacked Trump,’ played by James Austin Johnson, premiered Saturday as SNL’s new ‘flattering’ take on the future president.
Cast members spent the rest of the nearly five-minute segment sarcastically praising Trump, which didn’t sit well with some MAGA-supporting SNL watchers.
‘What a load of shit they do. They try to make it funny while making fun of us,’ someone on X reacted.
Another user wrote: “I hope Elon Musk buys SNL and makes it fun again.”
This was likely in response to Dana Carvey’s comedic portrayal of the Tesla CEO towards the end of the post-election message.
After Thompson referred to Musk as “the other man we love and trust,” Carvey jumped around the stage, pumping his fists in the air and dancing while shouting “it’s okay!”
Dana Carvey’s Elon Musk jumped on stage and shouted ‘I run the country now’
At the end of the cold open, the cast brought out the ‘invisible young people’ in the YMCA tone
As they asserted their loyalty to Trump, the camera focused on ‘three disgusting new cast members’ who voted for Kamala Harris.
“Seriously, I’m running the country now,” he said as the crowd laughed.
Before ‘Musk’ cavorted around the stage, Sarah Sherman introduced a new character, ‘Sexy Trump,’ to demonstrate the cast’s admiration for the future 47th president.
Played by James Austin Johnson, a muscular version of Trump said: “They finally got the body right.”
“But from now on we’re going to do a very flattering portrayal of Trump because, frankly, he’s my hero and he’s going to be an incredible president and, eventually, a king!”
Heidi Gardner, Marcello Hernandez, Bowen Yang and Colin Jost also made jokes, with Gardner claiming he voted for Trump 50 times in Pennsylvania, alluding to voter fraud investigations in the state.
Additionally, “three obnoxious new cast members” whom Sherman ousted for voting for Kamala Harris (Jane Wickline, Ashley Padilla, and Emil Wakim) were shamed for their ballot choices.
As the segment concluded, cast members began singing and dancing to the YMCA tunes as they addressed the “invisible youth” who helped elect Trump.
Of the 3,300 comments on SNL’s X post of this sketch, many people echoed the sentiment that it simply wasn’t funny or was out of touch with American perspectives.
“Imagine being this disconnected from the majority of your country,” said one user. “49 out of 50 states voted more red than in 2020.”
Social media critics slammed the politically-charged chill, mostly calling it unfunny and out of touch.
Someone posed the question: ‘Was this…comedy?’
‘No one cares what you think! You have ZERO influence and even less credibility,” said one angry commenter.
In response to Nwodim’s statement about the election results being “horrible” before the cast started making jokes, one user responded: “The results were neither shocking nor scary.”
‘We, the People, have taken back our nation. I for one hope that you liberals never take the time to look at yourselves and continue down the path you are on. “You will never win another election.”
Kennan Thompson and Heidi Gardner made satirical comments about being Trump supporters, sparking a lot of hate online.
Marcello Hernández, Sarah Sherman and Colin Jost smiled through the cold open as they praised Trump
Although some critics criticized SNL as unfunny or too left-wing, others seemed to enjoy the cold open to poke fun at the country’s political situation.
“Funniest sketch in years,” someone said.
Another user shared a backhanded compliment: ‘Congratulations! You finally did something funny.’
One user praised the cast’s political speech: ‘The SNL cast addressed Trump’s victory with humor and some sharp political commentary – classic SNL style!’