“Weekend Update” took rapid-fire aim at President-elect Donald Trump and those in his orbit, from RFK Jr. to Elon Musk to Matt Gaetz.
But of course, “Saturday Night Live‘s” faux newscast opened with a bit about the healthcare CEO killer story that has rivited the nation since United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson was brazenly shot in Midtown Manhattan on Dec. 4. “Weekend Update” anchor Colin Jost noted that the country has been engaged “in the delicate, sensitive debate over who will play this guy in the Netflix miniseries.”
Jost also noted that the while the accused shooter, Luigi Mangione, is suspected of harboring hostility toward corporate America, the facts of the case don’t line up. “Yet he went to Starbucks before the shooting and was caught at a McDonald’s — perhaps his greatest crime was hypocrisy,” Jost said.
Jost and his co-anchor Michael Che then alternated zingers about Trump and his associates. Noting that Trump was named Man of the Year by Time magazine, Jost observed that the recognition was appropriate because “no one has taken as much of our time.”
Che commented on the news earlier this week that controversial former GOP congressman Matt Gaetz is moving to One America Network to host a political talk show. Gaetz resigned his seat under the pressure from an ongoing ethics investigation. Last month, he was forced to withdraw from consideration as Trump’s Attorney General after it became clear that Gaetz, who has been accused of sexual behavior with underage girls, did not have the support in the Senate for confirmation despite Trump’s enthusiastic endorsement.
Gaetz’s new OAN series will be “covering everything from quinceañeras to prom night jitters,” Che said.
Among other political barbs:
On RFK Jr.’s drive to end polio vaccine mandates, Che quipped, “Because it ain’t Christmas without some Tiny Tims.”
On Elon Musk stating that Trump and the late Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsberg agreed on the issue of abortion, he cracked, “I never even knew Trump got her pregnant.”
On Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson fulfilling her dream to appear on Broadway with her one-night-only appearance in the musical “& Juliet,” Che said it happened “while [Supreme Court Justice] Clarence Thomas blew everyone off the stage in ‘Kinky Boots.’ ”
The “Weekend Update” segment also featured lengthy segments with cast members Andrew Dismukes and Jane Wickline. Dismukes riffed on the court ruling out of the U.K. that got attention this week with the decision that calling a man bald equated to harassment. Wickline delivered one of her signature songs that riffed on Sabrina Carpenter and Wickline’s effort to spark internet rumors about her sexuality in order to boost her career.
“Lots of people on the internet like to start juicy rumors about whether pop stars are gay. When will even one person do that about me,” Wickline sang.