With political sketches crushing so far this season on Saturday Night Live, the long-running late night comedy show actually gave us multiple bits with President Trump last night. James Austin Johnson’s scary accurate take on Commander-In-Chief was featured in the cold open about the New York City Mayoral Race, and it was featured again during a hilarious sketch about the ongoing renovation of The White House.
The skit in question was a pre-tape that was framed as an episode of HGTV’s Property Brothers. In it, Miles Teller plays both Drew And Jonathan Scott, as they interact with Johnson’s President Trump and a Melania Trump played by Chloe Fineman. Not surprisingly, Trump makes all kinds of wacky demands and says his budget is somewhere between $350M and Infinity. You can watch the entire bit below…
The White House renovations have been a huge topic of public conversation. Despite the government being shut down amidst budgetary conflicts between Republicans and Democrats, the construction is still happening, and social media is filled with takes from people who have very strong opinions.
Some feel it’s entirely reasonable to add an enlarged ballroom, given the East Room only accommodates 200 people and large parties and events sometimes need supplemental tents during dinner service. Others feel doing a construction project of this magnitude damages the building’s history and also feels off-tone given all the workers that have been furloughed during the shutdown.
One of the reasons why the sketch works so well is it touches on common themes you frequently see in HGTV shows. The Trumps talk about how they need to do renovations because they need more space and how they want to turn this current property into their forever home by making changes. It also nails the low stakes ribbing you hear from the brothers (and other HGTV co-workers) who regularly take fun little shots at each other in a playful banter sort of way.
I’ve also got out to shout out the references to Independence Day and Star Wars which are both inserted into the sketch. I especially love the idea of Trump putting Jabba The Hutt’s Palace with Leia in her infamous costume on his Pinterest mood board.
The rest of Miles Teller’s SNL episode featured a bunch of solid sketches that are already making their way around the Internet. The aforementioned cold open also featuring President Trump has attracted a lot of attention because it’s a commentary on the recent NYC Mayor’s Debate, and a PSA sketch for the NHL featuring Miles Teller talking about being a Nashville Predator has also gotten a ton of positive feedback.
SNL will return with new episodes the next few weeks, as upcoming hosts Nikki Glaser and Glen Powell take their turns . I can’t wait to see the two celebrities take their swings and to see the new cast members continue to get opportunities and find their place.
