Last night was the premiere of the new season of “Saturday Night Live,” and with all that’s going on, they had a lot to pack into their cold open.
Alec Baldwin returned to his recurring role as Donald Trump. Baldwin is joined by Aidy Bryant, as Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and later, Kate McKinnon as Jeff Sessions.
Of course, the response to the crisis in Puerto Rico played a big part of the skit. While they didn’t touch on Trump’s Saturday tweets, where he accused the people of Puerto Rico of doing nothing to help themselves, they did manage to bundle Trump’s explanation of what an ocean is with an apparent lack of knowledge that Puerto Rico is actually a U.S. territory.
While on a phone call with a cast member portraying the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, as she begged the president for help, he responded:
“We’re going to get more help to you immediately, probably by Tuesday or Wednesday by the latest,” Baldwin responds as Trump. “Ma’am I don’t know if you know this, but you’re in an island in the water. The ocean water, big ocean, with fishies and water and turtles that bite. We want to help you but we’ve got to take care of America First.”
After SNL’s Cruz explains that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, Baldwin aggressively hangs up the phone, saying, “that woman was so nasty.”
I have to say, SNL may be slipping, a bit. Baldwin-as-Trump’s description of an ocean wasn’t nearly as funny as Trump’s actual attempts at describing an ocean.
Do better, SNL. It’s a new season and this administration will give you plenty to mock.
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