Trump’s reaction to man collapsing in the Oval Office gets the SNL treatment

It was arguably the most striking image of the week, so it’s perhaps no surprise that the cold open for the latest edition of Saturday Night Live took aim at US president Donald Trump standing to one side as officials tended to a man who had collapsed in the Oval Office.

The real incident happened during a press conference on drug prices on Thursday, with several individuals rushing to support the man in question while Trump rose from his seat to look over at the man on the ground.

A snap taken by Getty Images photographer Andrew Harnik went viral online as social media users claimed the “incredible” photo “captures his entire career” as someone who “cares about literally no one but himself”.

The White House pushed back against criticism of Trump’s reaction to the incident, with deputy press secretary Kush Desai telling indy100 in a statement: “The gentleman who fainted was immediately attended to by the multiple board-certified physicians who were in the room before the White House Medical Unit was able to promptly arrive at the scene.

"Any first responder, as well as anyone with common sense, can confirm that the President did the right thing by staying calm and allowing medical professionals to do their jobs.”

Nevertheless, SNL still opted to ridicule Trump’s reaction to the incident, with the president – played by James Austin Johnson – stepping over the man and telling viewers he thinks he’s “playing this very normal: just stand there and stare like a sociopath”.

Johnson went on to say: “How’s he doing back there, is he dead? They got the legs up, that means ‘dead’ in cartoon.

“Actually, don’t tell me if he’s dead; I want to be surprised.”

SNL has since been praised for the sketch, with one account writing the show is “doing a great job comedically recapping the news for Americans who either don’t see it in their algorithms or don’t go looking for it”:

Another shared the real-life photo from Harnik next to the video and wrote: “When real life is weirder than satire”:

Saturday’s cold open follows last week’s parody of the New York mayoral debate, with then Democratic candidate (and now mayor-elect) Zohran Mamdani applauded for how he responded to cast member Ramy Youssef’s impression of him.

“I feel like I’ve been kidnapped and I’m talking to myself,” he said.

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