There’s a well-understood comedy axiom that says if you have to explain why something is funny, then it isn’t, but NBC's Saturday Night Live fails to understand this because, in response to Donald Trump’s victory, the cast came together for a cringe-inducing performance where they pretended to support him in an attempt to stay off an enemies list.
Bowen Yang opened by making sure everyone knew it was not their actual position, “On Tuesday, Americans went to the polls and elected Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States,” while Ego Nwodim followed with, “To many people, including many people watching this show right now, the results were shocking and even horrifying.”
Heidi Gardner subsquently lamented, “Donald Trump, who tried to forcibly overturn the results of the last election, was returned to office by an overwhelming majority,” as DNC speaker Kenan Thompson explained the whole bit, “This is the same Donald Trump who openly called for vengeance against his political enemies.”
SNL cast members share a post-election message pic.twitter.com/jTXqJCxpIL
— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) November 10, 2024
Yang then falsely added, “And now, thanks to the Supreme Court, there are no guardrails,” as Nwodim elaborated, “Nothing to protect the people who are brave enough to speak out against him.”
In the “twist” everyone saw coming from a thousand miles away, Thompson declared, “That is why we at SNL would like to say to Donald Trump, we have been with you all along.”
After more fake claims of support, Weekend Update anchor Colin Jost arrived, “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, spins it to make you look foolish.”
During the fall, 89 percent of Che and Jost's Trump-Harris jokes were about Trump.
Back in the skit, Thompson began "So, if you're keeping some kind of list of your enemies then" as Marcello Hernandez finished, "We should not be on that list."
Things got even weirder as the cast pretended to be a group of informants, with Yang declaring, “And if we find out someone here voted for Kamala, we will rat them out so fast.”
Sarah Sherman then turned to “our three disgusting new cast members” as Thompson continued in the role of cult follower, “So real quick, from left to right, that's Jane Wickline, Ashley Padilla, and Emil Wakim. You can find their home addresses online, hail Trump.”
Meanwhile, Hernandez sought to immunize himself, “But the rest of us, hail Trump, voted for you at least once” as Sherman introduced Trump actor James Austin Johnson, “And we're so excited to debut our new impression, hot, jacked Trump.”
Wearing a muscle suit, Johnson proclaimed, “That's right. That’s right, it’s me: hot, jacked Trump. They finally got the body right. But from now on, we're going to do very flattering portrayal of Trump because he's, frankly, my hero, and he's going to make a great president and eventually king. We love you, buddy.”
The cast then ruined any semblance of the joke again as they made it clear, again, they didn’t mean any of it. Yang declared, “In summary, all of us at SNL are so excited for Trump 2.0, which is also what I blew on a breathalyzer Wednesday morning.”
Nowdim added, “We can't wait to see what you do with the country this time. I keep waking up in the middle of the night screaming. With joy, of course.”
Thompson then introduced Dana Carvey in the role of Elon Musk, “And worst-case scenario, meaning scenario, if our planet falls apart, we can all go to Mars with the other man we love and trust, Elon Musk.”
Carvey explained that “I run the country now and America’s going to be like one of my rockets, you know, they’re super cool, and super fun, but there's a slight chance it could blow up and everyone dies. I’m dark MAGA, see you in the White House, U-S-A, U-S-A.”
SNL can't be too concerned about an authoritarian enemies list if they went on TV and joked about it, even if they ruined the joke by constantly explaining it.
Here is a transcript for November 9 show:
NBC Saturday Night Live
11/9/2024
11:29 PM ET
BOWEN YANG: On Tuesday, Americans went to the polls and elected Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States.
EGO NWODIM: To many people, including many people watching this show right now, the results were shocking and even horrifying.
HEIDI GARDNER: Donald Trump, who tried to forcibly overturn the results of the last election, was returned to office by an overwhelming majority.
KENAN THOMPSON: This is the same Donald Trump who openly called for vengeance against his political enemies.
YANG: And now, thanks to the Supreme Court, there are no guardrails.
NWODIM: Nothing to protect the people who are brave enough to speak out against him.
THOMPSON: That is why we at SNL would like to say to Donald Trump, we have been with you all along.
YANG: We have never wavered in our support of you, even when others doubted you.
SARAH SHERMAN: Every single person on this stage believed in you.
MARCELLO HERNANDEZ: Every single person on this stage voted for you.
NWODIM: Because we see ourselves in you. We look at you and think, that's me.
SHERMAN: That's the man I want my future children to look up to.
COLIN JOST: 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, spins it to make you look foolish.
THOMPSON: So, if you're keeping some kind of list of your enemies then --
HERNANDEZ: We should not be on that list.
JOST: And it's C-H-E, Che.
YANG: And if we find out someone here voted for Kamala, we will rat them out so fast.
SHERMAN: Like our three disgusting new cast members.
THOMPSON: So real quick, from left to right, that's Jane Wickline, Ashley Padilla, and Emil Wakim. You can find their home addresses online, hail Trump.
HERNANDEZ: But the rest of us, hail Trump, voted for you at least once.
GARDNER: I voted for you 50 times in Pennsylvania.
NOWDIM: 92 percent of black women voted for Kamala, but I was one of the proud 8 percent. For me, it's brother Donald ex-Trump all the way.
SHERMAN: And we're so excited to debut our new impression, hot, jacked Trump.
JAMES AUSTIN JOHNSON [AS DONALD TRUMP]: That's right. That’s right, it’s me: hot, jacked Trump. They finally got the body right. But from now on, we're going to do very flattering portrayal of Trump because he's, frankly, my hero, and he's going to make a great president and eventually king. We love you, buddy.
YANG: In summary, all of us at SNL are so excited for Trump 2.0, which is also what I blew on a breathalyzer Wednesday morning.
NWODIM: We can't wait to see what you do with the country this time. I keep waking up in the middle of the night screaming. With joy, of course.
SHERMAN: My only regret is that we didn't get to do another January 6th, because I was ready.
JOST: Me, too.
THOMPSON: And worst-case scenario, meaning scenario, if our planet falls apart, we can all go to Mars with the other man we love and trust, Elon Musk.
DANA CARVEY [AS ELON MUSK]: Alright. Check it out, dark MAGA. Yeah, but seriously, I run the country now and America’s going to be like one of my rockets, you know, they’re super cool, and super fun, but there's a slight chance it could blow up and everyone dies. I’m dark MAGA, see you in the White House, U-S-A, U-S-A.
HERNANDEZ: And to all young men who helped elect Trump and Elon, we know that you felt unseen these past four years.
YANG: So, we say to you, young men, there is no need to feel down.
THOMPSON: Young men, pick yourself off the ground.
NWODIM: Young men, time to put on your crown.
ALL [‘YMCA’ TUNE]: You don't need to be unhappy.
