A White House rep has responded to the first cold open of โSaturday Night Liveโ season 51, which targeted Donald Trump and FCC chair Brendan Carr for their recent clampdown on late-night TV.
โReacting to this would require me to waste my time watching it,โ White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson wrote to Entertainment Weekly via email. โAnd like the millions of Americans who have tuned out from โSNL,โ I have more entertaining things to do โ like watch paint dry.โ
Season 51โs first cold open saw James Austin Johnsonโs Trump interrupting Colin Jostโs Pete Hegseth impression to make sure โSNLโ wouldnโt โdo anything to mean about me.โ
Johnsonโs Trump was quick to talk down on the prolific late-night sketch show. Making reference to this summerโs cast rework, he said, โโSNLโ 51 off to a rough start: 17 new cast members and they got the โUpdateโ guy doing the open.โ
He then warned that if โSNLโ got out of hand, they would have to face the wrath of โmy attack dog at the FCC, Brandon Carr.โ Mikey Day as Carr then danced into frame to the tune of Rockwellโs โSomebodyโs Watching Meโ and corrected Johnsonโs Trump about the pronunciation of his name.
โItโs actually Brendan, sir,โ said the phony Carr. Johnsonโs Trump replied, โItโs crazy you think I care. Bye!โ
Ending with a warning, Trump said, โRemember: Daddyโs watching.โ
Johnson has been the go-to Trump impersonator on โSaturday Night Liveโ since he joined the cast in 2021.
Check out the entire cold open below.
