“Saturday Night Live” resumed its election-season tradition of casting political candidates as themselves, inviting Nikki Haley for a cameo in its opening sketches this weekend.
In the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, former President Donald J. Attempting to use humor and popular culture to push back against Trump, Haley appeared in a segment presented as a CNN town hall event with Trump (who acted). The show's resident Trump impersonator, James Austin Johnson).
Johnson fielded questions from the rest of the “SNL” cast, explaining how he planned to defeat President Biden and “stop Taylor Swift from breaking into the Super Bowl.” The town hall moderators then introduced a question from an audience member, “who describes himself as a concerned South Carolina voter.”
That voter was Haley, the former governor of South Carolina (as well as ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration). “Yeah, hi,” Haley told Johnson. “My question is, why don't you discuss Nikki Haley?”
“Oh my god, it's her!” Johnson said. “The woman who was in charge of security on January 6th. It's Nancy Pelosi.”
Haley said, “Are you okay, Donald? You may need a mental capacity test.”
Johnson responded that he had taken such a test and scored perfectly: “They said I was 100 percent in the mood.”
He added that men are better suited to hold political office than women, he declared, “who is terrible with money — in fact, a woman I know recently asked me for $83.3 million.”
After the two exchanged more taunts, Johnson said Haley was treating him badly. “I have always been very kind to you,” said he, “except to mention that you were not born in this country.”
The final town hall question came from the weekend host, who asked Haley: “I was curious, what would you say was the main cause of the Civil War? And do you think it starts with an 's' and ends with 'Lavery'?”
It referred to a real-life question at a New Hampshire town hall in December, where Haley's clear answer did not mention slavery.
She admitted, “Yeah, I probably said that the first time.”
After appearing on “SNL,” Haley wrote in a social media post “She had a blast tonight,” adding: “Just know it's past Donald's bedtime, so I'm looking forward to a non-stop stream of tweets in the morning.”
Trump later responded to her appearance by posting a video on his Truth social account that showed Haley making public statements over the years, contradicting herself on a variety of topics.
Hailey didn't defend herself from being teased after making a guest appearance on the show.
In the Weekend Update segment, Michael Che quipped: “Nikki Haley has launched a series of campaign ads targeting both Donald Trump and Joe Biden under the name 'Grumpy Old Men.' Well, but at least they're men.
Opening monologue of the week
Edibri, a comedic actress and writer, won an Emmy and a Golden Globe last month for her role in the FX series “The Bear.”
After appearing genuinely choked up, Edebiri explained how growing up in Boston, “It was the first black girl who acknowledged me.” He added, “Three days into February, I'm already making black history.”
He also talked about growing up in an immigrant family with African and Caribbean roots (“You know what that means,” he said. “I'm in therapy”), and explained how the cast of “The Bear” prepared for themselves. roles by working in restaurants. Although patrons generally assumed that her co-star Jeremy Allen White was taking a one-off approach to her performance, Edebiri said, “When they look at me, they say, 'How long until my tilapia?'
Let's all go to the lobby of the week
The AMC theater chain debuted a limited-edition popcorn bucket intended to depict a giant sandworm ahead of the release of “Toon: Part Two,” a design that inspired more than its share of social media posts. Many other things.
But no one goes by these comparisons like Marcello Hernández, who led a musical song to the collapsible bucket, who considered it a romantic partner.
In parts we can safely quote here, Hernandez sings, “Play my heart tricks like a fiddle / I'm not afraid of the teeth in the middle.”
Weekend Update Jokes of the Week
On the Weekend Update table, anchors Colin Jost and Chey railed against right-wing conspiracy theories surrounding the 2024 presidential election and Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's relationship.
The Joust Begins:
A few hours ago, President Biden won the South Carolina Democratic primary, beating his closest rival in no time. As you may have seen on your aunt's Facebook, many MAGA figures are claiming that the Super Bowl is being rigged so that Kansas City wins and Taylor Swift takes the field with Travis Kelce to support Joe Biden. Man, the people of MAGA have many enemies to keep track of. You have to hate the NFL, Taylor Swift, Bud Light, Disney, Kristen Stewart for some reason, electric ovens, windmills, the idea of rainbows, and green M&M's. You have to think everyone in government is a secret pedophile except for this guy who dances with Jeffrey Epstein. [his screen showed footage from an old video of Trump with Epstein.] I mean, isn't that what makes you so happy to see Trump? He dances like no one checks IDs.
Continued:
President Biden has made a drastic shift in his immigration policy, saying he is open to closing the border if Congress is given the authority. It's an unexpected shift in direction from what Biden usually only does mid-sentence.
