James Austin Johnson was born for this moment – Donald Trump turns as he is roundly defeated by Democrats – and he rose to meet Saturday Night Live cold opened.
But it was a Democratic politician who stole the show during Trump’s 2026 defeat tour, as Texas senator-elect James Talarico made a surprise appearance in his role at the end of the sketch.
“My name is James Talarico, the guy who texts you every day asking for five dollars,” the popular Texas politician said as he took the stage to gasps and cheers from the audience, with Trump muttering behind him, “In this economy, who can blame you?”
Talarico invoked the iconic “Live from New York” with Johnson a moment later.
Talarico beat Republican opponent Ken Paxton by 12 points in the most expensive race in U.S. Senate history, thanks in part to the grassroots fundraising campaign he mocked. SNL. The result turned a Texas Senate seat blue for the first time in more than 30 years.
Before Talarico appeared at Studio 8H, Johnson reveled in his presidential character’s anti-moment.
“I didn’t even say it was rigged,” Trump said of the election results. “I accepted the results, which is even scarier in a way. It’s like, ‘What is he up to?’ ” “He then said he only cared about his newly redesigned White House ballroom, before admitting under his breath, “Oh my God, I hate my life.”
Talarico’s surprise, cold appearance echoed moments like Kamala Harris’ 2024 appearance, in which she starred alongside her celebrity impersonator Maya Rudolph before the election, while Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin also made unexpected appearances as White House candidates more than a decade ago. A senator or senator-elect, however, is rarer, and this moment both reflected and reinforced the emerging media celebrity of the new class of congressional Democrats, many of whom are in their 30s or early 40s.
Trump, at least, is not a fan of Johnson.
“The next few years are going to be horrible,” he said, breaking into a comedic rhythm. “It’s not that they’re Democrats, it’s that they’re Millennials.” He then lamented the return of generational staples like “adorable” and the show New girl.
The president and the Republican Party received several rounds of boos in the midterms, as Democrats won at least 42 seats in the House and seven in the Senate. Voters rejected both Trump’s policies and personality as they voted for a wide range of changes, including on the economy.
Johnson – who said The Hollywood Reporter last year, “I don’t want to call what I’m doing Shakespeare, but I’m trying to find the deeper forms of Trump, which is a rich text” — was fully released Hamlet Saturday with a digression on when New girl started coming up with some good storylines (it involved Winston and the cat).
Johnson has appeared (or crashed) cold as president seemingly every week since Trump returned to power, and the writers gave Talarico one of the sketch’s best lines by allowing him to… question that choice.
“People want something new, they want something different,” Talarico said, appearing to be talking about electoral politics, before the comedic turn. “I’m talking about SNL “The cold is opening,” he said, turning to Trump to ask how long he’ll keep doing this thing. “Infinite,” Trump said of Johnson. They don’t want to talk about it, but we have to talk about it.
Johnson’s Trump also embarked on what could be a good trip for Colin Jost’s Pete Hegseth; with the Defense Secretary rumored to be leaving the administration, this could also end Jost’s highly regarded impression.
“Do I seem like a person who becomes less crazy when backed into a corner?” asked Jost as he walked toward the sketch, adding, “I live a YOLO life: you only lose often.” » He then fled, butt first, playing on the new Trumpian obsession with the butt.
The sketch began with Sarah Sherman’s Chuck Schumer and Kenan Thompson’s Hakeem Jeffries taking credit for victories that were only partly their fault, then describing their post-midterm plan.
“As our first item on the agenda, we’re going to walk up to Donald Trump, look him straight in the eye and say, ‘Stop him, hunk,'” Jeffries said of Thompson, mocking the perceived ineffectiveness of the current Democratic leadership in Congress.
As they rhetorically asked who was responsible for all the victories, Johnson’s Trump appeared and took credit in reverse: “Me,” he boasted.
Talarico’s appearance on SNL provides a bookend — and a bit of sweet revenge — for the Texas politician after broader threats from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr led ABC and Jimmy Kimmel in September to move a Talarico appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! of the television broadcast on YouTube, a decision that Kimmel and the candidate condemned. The apparent reason Carr allegedly contested was because Talarico was running, triggering an equal-time provision, even though Republican and Democratic candidates have long appeared on late-night shows. With Talarico officially an elected senator, all of this is moot.
Druski hosted the November 7 episode.
Gn entert
