Saturday Night Live opened its 51st season with a cold open skit satirising Donald Trump’s crackdown on late-night television, with the president portrayed by James Austin Johnson warning that “daddy’s watching.” The sketch also featured Mikey Day as FCC chairman Brendan Carr, who recently warned of agency action over comments made by Jimmy Kimmel on his ABC show. Hours later, ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the schedule, only to return it days later after backlash over perceived capitulation to Trump administration pressure.
The skit was hardly surprising given that Carr, in his first weeks in office, is investigating a complaint over the show’s decision to feature Kamala Harris in a cameo shortly before the election. Johnson’s Trump said, “I’m just here keeping my eye on SNL, making sure they don’t do anything too mean about me, and they better be careful, because I know late-night TV like the back of my hand.” He then held up his hand, showing unexplained discolouring, and said, “Not looking great right now. Gonna cover this up for the rest of my life.”
The cold open spoofed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, played by Colin Jost, summoning generals to Quantico to speak on the warrior ethos and an obsession with the appearance of Pentagon personnel. “In summary, this is the whole meeting: No fuggos, no fatties, no facial hair, no body hair — just hot shredded, hairless men who are definitely not gay,” Jost’s Hegseth said in a tight-fitting suit.
Hegseth’s speech was followed by a blatantly partisan address from Trump that veered from topic to topic while the generals remained stonefaced. Breaking the fourth wall, Johnson’s Trump riffed on Jost: “I’m surprised Colin’s here. I thought he would be with his friends at the Riyadh Comedy Festival. Well, that’s sad. We like the Saudis because they like to saw deez journalists in half.” The line drew groans from the audience.
The appearance also touched on Trump’s claims to have ended wars while starting new conflicts with Venezuela. “They all say to me, ‘Sir, how will you pay for all of this?’ And I tell them, with my scams! My beautiful scams!” Johnson’s Trump said. He concluded: “Well, here we go, and remember, daddy’s watching.”
