'SNL' taps into cynicism over Elon Musk's White House influence
Questions about tech investor Elon Musk’s extraordinary influence in President Donald Trump’s White House found answers that doubled as punchlines on “Saturday Night Live.”
Questions about tech investor Elon Musk’s extraordinary influence in President Donald Trump’s White House found answers that doubled as punchlines on “Saturday Night Live.”
The show, headed for the season’s finish line after celebrations and wall-to-wall performances over a weekend of 50th anniversary programming last month, tapped into the cynical mojo that helped it launch three generations ago by reflecting a sense of chaos in Trump’s second-term administration.
With James Austin Johnson returning as a free-range Trump and Mike Myers reprising his role as Musk hovering near the president like a wisecracking helicopter parent, the show followed the money.
The cold open found the two in the Oval Office with Marcello Hernández’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio as Trump attempted to fix Rubio’s relationship with Musk as the two have reportedly clashed over Musk’s firing of employees without giving consideration to whether letting them go would improve or harm his agency.
Johnson’s Trump said he couldn’t tolerate the infighting, especially as he returned to the White House for what “otherwise has been a smooth” start to his term.
Rating: 5