Saturday Night Live took aim at one of the week’s most viral moments with the image of Donald Trump standing motionless as a man collapsed inside the Oval Office – but some viewers weren’t impressed.
SNL turned the scene into a cold open that skewered the president’s reaction as ‘sociopathic’.
The sketch began with James Austin Johnson’s Trump, standing in an Oval Office set beside a body lying on the floor.
‘Oh, Hi. I didn’t see you there,’ Johnson’s Trump said to the audience. ‘Someone was dying in my office.’
The parody came just days after the real-life incident in which a medical professional fainted while Trump was announcing a plan to lower the price of weight loss drugs.
The White House later said the man was ‘okay,’ but the still photograph of Trump standing off to the side as others rushed to help quickly spread across social media – and SNL wasted no time lampooning it.
‘I think I’m playing this very normal,’ Johnson’s Trump said as the man fell to the ground behind him.
‘Just stand there and stare like a sociopath,’ he continued. ‘I didn’t even pretend like I was going to help.’
Saturday Night Live took direct aim at one of the week’s most viral moments with the image of President Donald Trump standing motionless as a man collapsed inside the Oval Office
The skit mocked this real-life incident that saw Trump stand by as attendees in the Oval Office helped a guest after he collapsed during during an event on lowering drug prices
Johnson’s Trump then turned to the camera to reflect on his week in office.
‘Each week, I like to create a big visual that sort of sums up how things are going,’ he said.
‘Last week, it was the demolishing of the East Wing. This week, it’s a medical professional almost dying in my Oval Office at the mere thought of charging less for drugs.’
He added, ‘Maybe next week a bald eagle will fall dead out of the sky and splat right on the White House lawn. And by lawn, of course I mean big outdoor concrete floor.’
As staffers in the background tried to revive the fallen man, Johnson’s Trump occasionally checked in. ‘How’s it going back there, is he dead?’ he asked.
Watching as aides lifted the man’s legs, he quipped, ‘They got the legs up. That means dead in cartoon. Actually, don’t tell me if he’s dead. I want to be surprised.’
Not everyone was amused by SNL’s take on the incident. ‘Uncomfortably cringe and not funny at all,’ surmised one viewer.
‘Only SNL is heartless enough to mock a man having a major medical emergency,’ added another.
‘This was so bad that you had to use a laugh track on it just like all the other ones,’ wrote at third.
The late night comedy show appeared to accurately recreate the Oval Office incident
SNL’s recreation of the incident was extremely accurate
The segment then pivoted to Trump’s typical off-the-cuff commentary on the week’s political headlines, from the government shutdown to the price of groceries and the latest election results.
The episode marked comedian Nikki Glaser’s first time hosting the long-running show, with musical guest Sombr, fresh from a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
During her opening monologue, Glaser delivered a sharp-edged set that veered from celebrity culture to sex-trafficking awareness including the scandals surrounding pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
‘Here I am in New York City, Epstein’s original island,’ she cracked to laughter, referring to the convicted sex offender’s permanent residence in Manhattan.
Glaser kept that theme of joking about Epstein by mentioning his madam Ghislaine Maxwell as she spoke of her Gen Z friends being scared of being trafficked.
She said: ‘In my 20s I just feared good old-fashioned rape. I didn’t think it would be a career. We didn’t think it was anything more than a temp job at a frat house futon
The episode marked comedian Nikki Glaser’s first time hosting the long-running NBC show
Glaser’s remarks didn’t go do well with social media users in her first SNL monologue
‘They’re like, ‘We’re safer when you’re with us, because they think you’re our madam,’ she continued. ‘You have resting Ghislaine face, so just keep that up.’
The taboo subject continued, as she later joked she was worried that she might be a pedophile while telling a story about her four-year-old nephew who asked to take a shower with her.
‘My sister’s like, “He can take a shower with you. It’s fine. He does it with us”. Okay, that’s fine for you guys, but are you okay with an adult showering with your child? What if I molest him?’, Glaser quiped.
‘She was like, “Would you?” I was like, “No! I would never! That’s disgusting! But that’s what I’d say if I was gonna”.’
During her opening monologue, Glaser delivered a sharp-edged set that veered from celebrity culture to sex-trafficking awareness
She added: ‘Don’t trust anyone. I don’t even trust myself. I don’t want to go in there. How do you become a pedophile? You don’t get to choose what you’re into, dude,’ Glaser said in one of her more edgy lines.
‘What if it’s one of those things you don’t know you until you get in there, and you’re like, “Well, this is my thing,” and it opens up a part of my brain?
‘I know that sounds crazy, but there have been so many things in my life that I’ve been like, ‘I would never do that.’ And now I’m like, “Looks kind of fun, actually”.’
The jokes didn’t go down well on social media, with some users saying they quickly changed the station after hearing the remarks.
One person said: ’48 secs into Nikki Glaser’s SNL opening monologue. Don’t know who she is, but that was just dire.’
Another added: ‘Nikki Glaser (of all people) absolutely bombed her SNL monologue. It was CRINGE.’
One other posted: ‘Nikki Glaser could have been funny but she chose to be gross to get the most reaction. I guess it’s working.’
