In a festive yet sharply divisive episode, the long-running American sketch show Saturday Night Live has ignited controversy with its latest political satire. The programme's cold open segment took direct aim at former President Donald Trump and his administration's handling of the recent Jeffrey Epstein-related documents release.
Parody and Redactions: The Sketch's Central Joke
Comedian James Austin Johnson, renowned for his impression of the former president, portrayed Trump addressing the public about the evidence dump. The Justice Department released hundreds of pages on Friday, but a significant portion contained heavy redactions. Johnson's Trump stood proudly next to a comically large, censored file, with black bars obscuring the phrase 'Trump Didn't Do Nothing Bad'.
'We released all the files, and I come out looking, frankly, very good,' the parody Trump declared. He added, 'We had to redact a few sensitive things, but you'll get the gist here. See, it's all there. Can you believe it?' The sketch ridiculed Trump's frequent claims of transparency, with Johnson's character stating, 'With regard to files, we're being very transparent... Because Jeffrey Epstein was a terrible man, and I didn't know him, and I liked him a lot.'
Broadening the Satire: Renaming and Ramblings
The satire extended beyond the Epstein files. The cold open also mocked Trump's reported interest in renaming national monuments after himself. Johnson's Trump announced the renaming of the Kennedy Center to the 'Trump-Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts No Homo'. He joked that his administration was putting his name on so many buildings because 'we had to take it off so many files' and needed somewhere to put it.
Further jokes targeted the former president's speaking style, including his habit of losing his train of thought and frequent references to cognitive tests. In a surreal nativity parody, Johnson's Trump said, 'I'm doing my own version of Nativity now, where kings from the Middle East bring gifts for me, like gold and airplane and casino deal in Dubai.' He then segued into a discussion of camels, linking it to his daily cognitive assessments: 'I always get camel right. It's bumpy horse, that's how I know camel, bumpy horse.'
A Divided Audience: The Conservative Backlash
The sketch proved deeply polarising. Many supporters of Donald Trump and conservative commentators swiftly criticised the show on social media platform X. One self-described MAGA supporter labelled the impression 'as weak & pitiful as SNL has ever been', criticising the writing and delivery.
A significant point of contention was the sketch's focus solely on Trump, despite former Democratic President Bill Clinton also being named in the newly released Epstein documents. Critics accused SNL of bias and omission. 'They should do a skit on why Biden didn’t release the files if so damaging to Trump…. Or even better, one that portrays the Clinton’s,' wrote one observer. Another added sarcastically, 'I’m starting to think this show is biased.'
The backlash highlights the ongoing cultural divisions in American politics and the challenges faced by comedy shows in satirising figures in an increasingly partisan landscape. While the sketch aimed for humour, the reaction underscores how entertainment is often viewed through a fiercely political lens.
