SNL Torches Donald Trump With Last Supper Cold Open, Weekend Update Jokes
Saturday Night Live took aim at Donald Trump with an Easter-themed cold open that jokingly compared the former president's recent indictment to the persecution of Jesus.
The episode, hosted by Molly Shannon, began with a recreation of the Last Supper with Mikey Day as Jesus.
"Alas, one of you will betray me," Day told his fellow cast members playing the Disciples. "It is foretold. And though I have committed no crime, I will be arrested, tried, and found guilty."
At this point, James Austin Johnson entered the scene, in his recurring role as Trump.
"Sound familiar?" Johnson's Trump asked the audience. "A famous, wonderful man, arrested for no reason at all. If you haven't put it together, folks, I'm comparing myself to Jesus again. And what better time than on his birthday, Easter."
Johnson added: "As we speak, I am being persecuted on a level the likes of which the world has never seen, even worse than the late, great Jesus."
He goes on to say that "many people" are saying he is comparable to Jesus. "We're both very tall, very popular, and both frankly, white Americans," he said.
He then lists other ways he is similar, if not superior, to Jesus.
"He rose from the dead on the third day," he said. "I would have done it faster. Possibly two days. I think we could have done it a lot faster. He had a good mind for business. Water into wine—pure profit. And he had big, big rallies just like me."
Johnson's Trump added that many of Jesus' followers "got in big, big trouble" just like his. "All because I told them exactly what Jesus would have said, 'Get very violent and start a war,'" he said.
"I've even got my own Judas," Johnson's Trump said, before repeating a tale the former president has often told about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, widely considered Trump's biggest challenger for the GOP nomination in 2024.
"DeSantis came to me, tears in his eyes," he said. "He said, 'Help me, Mr. Trump. I'm gonna lose my election.' So I very generously pretended to like him and then he did a Judas."
Johnson's Trump then muses that perhaps he is better than Jesus because he's a "self-made billionaire," while Jesus is a "nepo baby."
"It's pretty easy to start a religion when your dad is God," he said. "He did Good Friday. I said, why not make it great? We can make great."
Johnson later made a final comparison, noting that "just like Jesus, all I did was be friendly to a sex worker, and now they want to put me in jail."
Later in the episode, Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che continued the jokes about Trump's indictment.
"The Wall Street Journal is calling on Russia to release one of their journalists, who was arrested on espionage charges," Jost said.
"And I might have the perfect idea for a prisoner swap," he added, as the screen displayed a photo of Trump in court.
Jost continued: "Former President Trump was arraigned on Tuesday, and a photographer released this photo of Trump in the courtroom and I don't like that he's flanked by an O.J. amount of lawyers. Because that tells me he's definitely guilty and that he's definitely getting away with it."
And in another joke at Trump's expense, Jost noted that Trump's lawyer doesn't think he is going to get a fair trial in Manhattan.
"I agree," Jost said. "Even the courtroom sketch artist seems to hate him. When he showed up, I thought he looked perfectly nice. He had blended his foundation. He had stapled down his hair. But the guy still drew him like the mud monster from Scooby-Doo."
Che then said that after Trump was arraigned, he "spoke to supporters at Mar-a-Lago and said there was a very dark cloud over our beloved country. Which is also what he used to call Obama."
Che also joked that "insiders are saying that since Donald Trump's indictment, his daughter Ivanka has been absent and his other daughter Tiffany is trying to take her place by his side. Just as soon as she gets through security."
