The cast of Saturday Night Live kicked off their post-election show trying to get on Donald Trump‘s good side after he defeated Kamala Harris in the 2024 election earlier in the week.
The cold open got underway with castmembers Bowen Yang, Heidi Gardner, Marcello Hernández, Ego Nwodim, Sarah Sherman, Kenan Thompson and Colin Jost speaking directly to the camera in a serious manner.
“On Tuesday, Americans went to the polls and elected Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States,” Yang says as Nwodim continues, “To many people, including many people watching this show right now, the results were shocking and even horrifying.”
“Donald Trump, who tried to forcibly overturn the results of the last election, was returned to office by an overwhelming majority,” Gardner says as Thompson adds, “This is the same Donald Trump who openly called for vengeance against his political enemies.”
Yang and Nwodim continue, “Now thanks to the Supreme Court, there are no guard rails, nothing to protect the people who are brave enough to speak out against him.”
The cast then had a sarcastic message directly for the former president. “And that is why we at SNL would like to say to Donald Trump: we’ve been with you all along,” Thompson says before Yang adds, “We have never wavered in our support of you, even when others doubted you.”
While SNL is known to mock celebrities and politicians, including Trump, Sherman jokingly clarifies, “Every single person on this stage, believed in you.” Hernández adds, “Every single person on this stage voted for you.”
“Because we see ourselves in you. We look at you and think, ‘That’s me,’” Nwodim shares as Sherman adds, “That’s the man I want my future children to look up to.”
Jost, co-anchor of “Weekend Update,” then joins them onstage to say, “And Mr. Trump, your honor, we know that you say things that are controversial sometimes, but really you’re just speaking the truth. And I hate how the lamestream media, Michael Che, tried to spin it to make you look foolish.”
Thompson adds, “So if you’re keeping some sort of list of your enemies, then we should not be on that list.” And then Yang confesses, “If we find out someone here voted for Kamala, we will rat them out so fast.”
Later the cast revealed SNL‘s new impression of the former president: “Hot Jacked Trump.” James Austin Johnson’s Trump proceeded to make an appearance to show off his new look.
“That’s right. It’s me, Hot Jacked Trump. They finally got the body right,” Johnson’s Trump says. “But from now on, we’re going to do a very flattering portrayal of Trump because he’s frankly my hero, and he’s going to make an incredible president and eventually King.”
Before the cold open concludes, Thompson adds, “And worst case scenario, meaning scenario, if our planet falls apart, we can all go to Mars with the other man that we love and trust: Elon Musk.” Dana Carvey’s Musk proceeded to make his way to the stage, jumping around awkwardly.
Bill Burr also returned to host the sketch comedy shows for the third time, with musical guest Mk.gee! He kicked off his monologue, quipping, “Nice to be here on such a fun week. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t watch politics so we’re gonna keep it light.”
However, he later addressed the elephant in the room. “All right ladies, you’re 0 and 2 on this guy,” the comedian said, referring to Trump’s victories over both Harris and Hillary Clinton. “But you learn more from your losses than your wins. Let’s get into the game tape.”
“Ladies, enough with the pantsuit. OK? It’s not working! Stop trying to have respect for yourselves,” Burr joked, referencing Harris’ and Clinton’s campaign wardrobes. “You don’t win the office on policy; you gotta whore it up a little! I’m not saying go full Hooters, but find the happy medium between Applebee’s and your dad didn’t stick around. All right? You all know how to get a free drink.”
“I know a lot of ugly women — feminists, I mean — don’t want to hear this message,” he continued. “But just tease ‘em a little bit! Make a farmer feel like he has a shot. Swing a state over a little bit!”
Burr later admitted that he’s “so psyched that this election is over. Took forever.” He added, “Everybody knew who they were voting for four years ago and then they just drag you through a year and a half of this stuff.”