A representative from the White House has reacted to the premiere cold open of “Saturday Night Live” for its 51st season, which featured a skit targeting Donald Trump and FCC chair Brendan Carr amid their recent efforts to limit late-night programming.
“Responding to this would mean wasting my time watching it,” commented White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson in an email to Entertainment Weekly. “Like the millions of viewers who have turned away from ‘SNL,’ I have far more interesting things to do—like watching paint dry.”
The first cold open of Season 51 featured James Austin Johnson portraying Trump, who interrupted Colin Jost’s impression of Pete Hegseth to ensure that “SNL” wouldn’t “say anything mean” about him.
Johnson’s portrayal of Trump wasted no time criticizing the iconic late-night sketch program. He remarked on the summer’s cast changes, saying, “‘SNL’ season 51 is off to a rough start: 17 new cast members, and they have the ‘Update’ guy doing the open.”
He then threatened that if “SNL” were to go too far, they would have to deal with “my attack dog at the FCC, Brandon Carr.” Mikey Day, dressed as Carr, then danced into view to the rhythm of Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me,” and corrected Johnson’s Trump on the pronunciation of his name.
“It’s actually Brendan, sir,” the impersonator replied. Johnson’s Trump dismissed him with, “It’s wild you think I care. Bye!”
Wrapping up with a warning, Trump added, “Remember: Daddy’s watching.”
Since joining the cast in 2021, Johnson has become the signature impersonator for Trump on “Saturday Night Live.”
You can check out the full cold open below.
