‘Saturday Night Live’ Opens With Donald Trump Ignoring Rising Prices And An Election Rebuke, As Well As The Guy Who Collapsed In The Oval Office
James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump returned to the Saturday Night Live cold open, this time in a spoof of the moment this week when a man collapsed in the Oval Office during a press conference on lowering the cost of weight-loss drugs. Watch it below.
In the skit, Trump ignores the man and even walks over his legs as Dr. Mehmet Oz and others try to assist him. Earlier this week, a Getty Images photo went viral showing the president, at the Resolute Desk, stone faced and not paying any attention to the collapsed man being treated on the floor next to him.
The opener was just a way in to this week’s off-year elections, as Democrats trounced GOP candidates in what was seen as a rebuke of Trump, what with prices continuing to rise. Some pundits predicted that there would be a White House course correction, given the president’s focus on foreign affairs and trade deals, as well as renovating the White House and the Kennedy Center. But later in the week, Trump said that he didn’t “want to hear about the affordability.”
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In the opener, Johnson’s Trump said: “I promised grocery prices would plummet, and they did. They plummeted straight up. And people are now saying, ‘But sir, how will I afford my Thanksgiving turkey for my family? Well, the good news is your family is not coming because all the planes are gone. We call that problem solving problem. Killing two birds with another bird. Now you got a bunch of crazy birds.”
Johnson’s Trump added: “That’s kind of our thing. Can’t afford food. Have some cheap Ozempic. Now you are not hungry and you get to take one, weird, painful poop a week.”
Because of the ongoing shutdown, the administration has announced that it would not fully pay for food and nutrition benefits with emergency funds. Late this week came another disruption: flights being canceled at airports as air traffic controllers go without pay during the government blackout.
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“The government is still shut down, all thanks to the Democrats and some Republicans and all Republicans, and me,” Trump said. “People say, ‘Just cave, Don. Give the Democrats what they want and end this.’ But I think we’re going to drag it out. We’re going to keep the government shut down. And while we’re at it, we’re looking at perhaps stealing Christmas. We’ll be doing Grinch. I like the Grinch. He’s a great guy. You know, our wives are friends. We play golf sometimes.”
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