Saturday Night Live's cold open this week skewered several headlines, including the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict, Kevin McCarthy's marathon speech, and Donald Trump's rants, through the lens of Fox News host Jeanine Pirro. Cecily Strong returned to portray Pirro, who defended Rittenhouse after his acquittal for killing two men and injuring another during the Kenosha protests.
Pirro's first guest was Judge Bruce Schroeder, played by Mikey Day, who parodied the judge's controversial rulings seen as favourable to the defence. Schroeder said, 'I ordered that the prosecution not use the word victims, they were rioters, and they were not shot, they were ge-doinked.' When Pirro noted he said 'my client', Schroeder replied, 'Oooh, yeah, sure. I keep doing that.'
The sketch also mocked Kevin McCarthy's eight-hour, 32-minute floor speech, which delayed but did not stop the Build Back Better Act. Pirro showed a clip of McCarthy trying to flip a water bottle, then said, 'And that brave man stopped the Build Back Better bill from being passed… until the next day when it passed in two minutes.'
James Austin Johnson returned as Donald Trump, launching into characteristic non sequiturs about the infrastructure bill, the wall, and reboots. 'We're coming back in 2024. Everyone loves reboots. People loved it before they are going to like it again — just like iCarly,' Trump said. The split screen showed a word search graphic to help viewers follow his rambling.
Trump's free association included remarks on Chris Christie, Bill Maher, and Dua Lipa: 'You know what, her husband, who is not very attractive, it's terrible what they are doing with Dua Lipa's husband.' The sketch ended with Pirro expressing enthusiasm for Trump's rants.
