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As US president Donald Trump continues to come under pressure over the release of files relating to the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, this week’s Saturday Night Live (SNL) decided to parody the crisis facing the Trump administration and wider Republican party in Saturday’s cold open.
Set in a White House press briefing, it begins with Ashley Padilla as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling everyone there was “no news this week”.
“Nothing happening with the president. No weird information was revealed,” she insisted, despite thousands of emails sent from Epstein about Trump being released by Democratic House Representatives on Wednesday.
When CNN’s Kaitlan Collins (Chloe Fineman) pointed out the massive amount of documents published this week about Epstein, Padilla’s Leavitt simply replied: “You know you suck, right?”
Another journalist – played by Kenan Thompson – asked “what does Trump have to hide”, to which James Austin Johnson’s Trump intervened to insist he is “hiding almost nothing”.
“Just enough to make it extremely suspicious, but let me ask you a question: if there was something incriminating about me in the files, then why would I cover them up,” he said.
Thompson’s character clarified: “Wait, isn’t that exactly why you would cover them up?”
Trying again, Trump said: “If I was innocent, wouldn’t I just release all the files?”
“Yes. Again, I think you’re agreeing with what everyone is saying,” the journalist replied.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Johnson’s Trump then went on to declare that he is “going to release all the Epstein files” – albeit with a twist, as he said “each file will be on sale for the low, low price of $800”.
Good lord…
Social media users have since praised the cold open, with Brooklyn Dad Defiant saying SNL was “steady slapping Trump about those Epstein files”:
“This has to be one of the best cold opens SNL has done in recent years,” tweeted another:
And a third Twitter/X user said it was “the best episode of the season so far”:
The House of Representatives is set to vote on a proposal to release of more Epstein files on Tuesday.
Why not read…
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- Trump reportedly begged Republicans who signed the Epstein files petition to change their minds
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