Alec Baldwin’s impression of Donald Trump was retired from Saturday Night Live after the 2020 election, but the actor made a surprise return this week as Fox News anchor Bret Baier. Alongside Maya Rudolph’s Kamala Harris, Baldwin gave his take on Baier’s combative interview style.
“When I interviewed President Trump, my first question was, ‘What do you think is the most important issue facing our nation?’” Baldwin’s Baier told Harris. “So my first question for you is: give me the exact number of murderers you let loose in this country.”
When Harris tried to answer, Baier kept interrupting: “A million?… Two million?… Ten million? Give me a number.”
“May I please finish?” Rudolph’s Harris asked. “You have to listen.”
“Well I can’t because I’m talking,” Baier replied.
The cold open was Baldwin’s first appearance on SNL since his Rust involuntary manslaughter case was dismissed in July 2024. Since the accidental shooting in October 2021, the recurring SNL guest had largely stepped back from the show, although he did make a surprise appearance at the end of Timothée Chalamet’s episode in November 2023.
The cold open also parodied the moment in the real Fox News interview where Baier omitted the full context of Trump’s “enemies within” comments. The clips in this sketch featured James Austin Johnson’s Trump rambling incoherently, as well as one of him dancing to “YMCA,” in reference to Trump’s recent musical town hall.
The final Trump clip was a parody of Trump’s town hall response describing January 6 as a “day of love.” Johnson’s Trump gave his spin on the same question.
“It was basically Woodstock,” he said. “People were being peaceful. No one died, except for the few that did, and so now that I’ve got your vote, let’s dance.” Cue “It’s Raining Men.”
The cold open also featured the return of Dana Carvey’s Joe Biden as Baier kept showing Harris out-of-context clips of Biden to make them him look like he was trashing her.
“Four years ago, it was amazing. It was the guy you wanted. But now they got this girl, and people are going, ‘what’s she doing here?’” Biden said, but it turned out he was just complaining about Joker: Folie à Deux.
