‘SNL’ skewers Trump’s picks for cabinet positions
“Saturday Night Live” cast members returned to biting satire after hedging their bets last week by asserting allegiance to President-elect Donald Trump.
The sketch comedy showcase presented its version of the meeting between outgoing president Joe Biden and Trump at the White House on Wednesday, portraying Trump’s cabinet picks as unconventional.
Reporters were shooed from the meeting as the two presidents, with Trump portrayed by James Austin Johnson and Biden played by former cast member Dana Carvey, embarked on a serious discussion.
Journalists shouted questions in the background: “What’s going on?” one said. “Should I move to Canada?” another asked.
Carvey’s Biden complained that his dog had been attacking foreign leaders who visit the White House — “every single one.”
Johnson’s Trump had his own gripe: “I can’t go back to Mar-a-Lago, Joe, because Elon is there and he will not leave.”
Staying on topic, Trump noted, “I am very fastly picking the most epic cabinet of all time,” he said.
“We’ve got Elon and Matt Gaetz,” he said. “That’s an ‘Aliens vs. Predator.'”
He continued: “We’ve got Kristi Noem and RFK Jr. They’re killing the dogs. They’re killing the bears.”
“Melania,” he said, “will be working remotely from divorce.“
Repertory player Sarah Sherman portrayed Gaetz, who is Trump’s choice to oversee the Department of Justice, which previously investigated him.
Alec Baldwin made a cameo as onetime presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who embraced vaccine skepticism.
“I care deeply about a woman’s right to choose — to choose to give her child polio,” Baldwin’s Kennedy said.
Trump even offered Biden a position in his forthcoming cabinet, but Biden said he’ll be busy doing “what every worn-down old guy does: I’m going to fight Jake Paul.”
A subsequent sketch presented “Banger Boyz!” — a mock podcast geared at a male audience — that had purported to welcome Trump during the campaign.
The incoming president called podcaster Dugan, played by Marcello Hernández, during the podcast.
“That was Trump,” he said. “He said that he was naming me the secretary of the commerce.”
Another Trump call came in, this one for cohost PJ, played by new cast member Emil Wakim.
“That was Trump,” he said. “I’m the new ambassador to Iran.”
News segment “Weekend Update” also examined Trump’s choices, with co-host Colin Jost saying the incoming president “continued to announce everyone he’s going to fire in six months.”
Charli xcx was both the night’s host and its musical guest.
“SNL” airs on NBC, a division of NBCUniversal, which is also the parent company of NBC News.
