Updated November 8, 2026, 2:12 p.m. ET
“Saturday Night Live” takes on the GOP midterm wipeout.
The sketch show’s latest cold open featured James Austin Johnson as President Donald Trump reacting to the results of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, which saw Democrats take control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Analysts have largely portrayed the election as a rebuke to Trump.
The skit began with Sarah Sherman as Chuck Schumer and Kenan Thompson as Hakeem Jeffries celebrating the Democrats’ big night. Thompson’s Jeffries suggested that with younger Democrats feeling energized, it might be time for the two men to “step aside and pass the torch to the next generation,” only for he and Sherman’s Schumer to laugh hysterically and dismiss the idea.
“We knocked the house down,” Jeffries said of Thompson. “We overthrew the Senate. And how did we do it?”
Enter Johnson as Trump.
“Me!” he said. “It’s true, the Democrats would never have won without this horrible economy and this terrible war, so in the words of Moana’s big fat friend, you’re welcome!”
The sketch followed the usual cold open formula of Trump’s riff for several minutes while the actors stood frozen behind him. He acknowledged that Republicans lost so much in the midterms that “I didn’t even say it was rigged. I accepted the results, which are almost scarier, in a way. It’s like, what is he up to?”
Johnson’s Trump also said his White House ballroom was his only concern at the moment, and he lamented that “all the rats are jumping ship.” But when Colin Jost’s Pete Hegseth walked in, he promised not to leave Trump, wondering, “Do I seem like a person who gets less crazy when he’s stuck?” » Hegseth also sought reassurance that Trump would not allow Congress to impeach him.
“You won’t let that happen, will you?” » asked Hegseth de Jost.
“Of course not,” Trump replied of Johnson. “Unless I do, which I will.”
The skit ended with a major surprise appearance: After Trump complained about Democrat James Talarico, the Texas senator-elect himself stood up, drawing cheers from the show’s studio audience. Talarico ended the skit on a meta note by saying that “SNL’s” cold opens with Trump had become repetitive.
“My name is James Talarico, the guy who texts you every day asking for $5,” he said. “But I think, Mr. President, if we can work together, we can improve the lives of ordinary Americans. It’s clear that people want something new. They want something different. I’m talking, of course, about the SNL cold opens. How many of these Trump freezers are they going to make?”
During the election season, Talarico’s interviews on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” were broadcast on YouTube rather than broadcast on television due to concerns about violating the Federal Communications Commission’s so-called equal time rule.
Trump said he was not responsible for Republicans’ midterm losses. “I wasn’t on the ballot and if I was we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social article.
Druski hosted the Nov. 7 episode of “SNL,” making history as the first digital content creator to host the show. The Strokes were musical guests.
Druski’s monologue featured the second surprise appearance of the evening. After noticing that he had just finished filming a movie with Emma Stone, the Oscar winner took the stage.
“Emma, I loved you in ‘Bugonia,'” he told her. “I just wanted to be the first black person to say it.”
Colin Jost and Michael Che discuss midterm elections on ‘Weekend Update’ and hint at Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein
Naturally, “Weekend Update” anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che had their own pile of midterm exam jokes.
“Texas went from red to blue,” Jost said. “So is Kansas. Even Mississippi is about to turn blue. So I guess my grandfather was right: the whole damn country is in transition.”
“Democrats had a historic night Tuesday, winning the Senate and achieving the biggest popular victory in the House since Watergate,” he continued. “And all it took was endless Watergate.” Showing a photo of the president in his gold-adorned Oval Office, Jost added: “Trump is now free to spend the rest of his time doing what he does best, vajazzled the White House.”
Che, meanwhile, cited the fact that some pundits have described the midterm elections as the “end of Trumpism.”
“I believe Trumpism will always live in each of us in the form of long COVID,” he joked.
Jost added that Trump blamed the defeat on the poor quality of Republican candidates. “I’m surprised Trump couldn’t find some new young talent because he had a guy for that,” he said, showing a photo of Trump with Jeffrey Epstein. The segment also skewered outgoing chief of staff Susie Wiles and her replacement, Stephen Miller. Che joked that Miller “is currently the chef that appears behind you in the bathroom mirror,” while Jost concluded that switching from Wiles to Miller would be like “trying to get through a dinner party going from wine to meth.”
Who will host ‘SNL’ next?
“SNL” will return for another new episode next Saturday, November 14, with John Mulaney as host and Phoebe Bridgers as musical guest. This will be the last new show before Thanksgiving.
Gn headline
