“Saturday Night Live” had plenty of material to work with as it opened its first episode of 2024 by poking fun at Donald Trump’s ongoing legal challenges.
James Austin Johnson played a fiery version of the former president during the episode’s cold open, which began at a press conference outside the U.S. District Court in Lower Manhattan. The sketch also featured Chloe Fineman as Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba.
After Fineman’s Habba tried to settle down the crowd, Johnson’s Trump sauntered in and promised to abide by the “horrible gag order” imposed on him by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan during his second defamation case from writer E. Jean Carroll.
“I will not be saying that the judge is an idiot, or where he lives, or what kind of crappy car he drives,” he smirked. “I didn’t know they still made Wagoneers.”
Then, boasting about his “very big” win in Iowa, Trump congratulated Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “on a truly embarrassing showing” in the Hawkeye State.
“He went to 99 counties, but bitch couldn’t win one,” he ribbed. “Ron DeStupid, Ron DeStupid. It just works. We’re going with Ron DeStupid.”
Trump then made digs at entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, referring to him as “my little Ratatouille,” and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, calling her “Darling Nikki,” a nod to the 1984 Prince song.
He finished by begging his aged voters to get him to the finish line, saying, “Just stay alive until November. Stay alive until November. Just pull that lever and drop dead. Why? Because I am sent by God and God has a plan for me, or whatever.”
Watch the full sketch here:
