This week, Saturday Night Live heeded our advice and ditched problematic actor Alec Baldwin’s unimaginative Trump impersonation during their cold open.
In the orange one’s stead was a holiday-themed bit of children meeting a mall Santa (Kenan Thompson) and his elf (Kate McKinnon), and sharing with them their Christmas wishes.
First came a young boy named Tyler who, after requesting Mega Bloks and laser tag, asked, “What did Al Franken do?” Unease, naturally, ensued.
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“Well, Tyler, I guess you could say Al Franken is on Santa’s ‘naughty’ list this year,” Santa replied, referencing Franken’s recent resignation following a series of groping allegations.
“And what about Roy Moore? Which list is he on?” added Tyler of the Alabama Senate candidate, who’s been accused of sexual misconduct by at least nine women and was banned from a local mall in Gadsden, Alabama, for creeping on young girls—including a Santa’s helper.
“It’s not really a list, it’s more of a registry,” McKinnon’s elf replied.
A young girl named Jessica came next: “I wanted to follow up on Tyler’s question: Is President Trump on the ‘naughty’ list?”
“Well, you know, Santa tries to stay out of political matters. Our president may have said or done a few naughty things,” explained the diplomatic Santa, thankfully neglecting to mention that time Trump was caught on tape bragging about sexually assaulting women.
“Nineteen accusers. Google it,” chimed in Santa’s helper, in a nod to the 19-plus women who have accused Trump of various degrees of sexual misconduct, including sexual-assault.
Santa was, well, a bit more child-friendly. “Look, Jessica, I think we can all learn a lesson from what’s going on in the news,” he said.
Cue Jessica: “We sure can! I learned that if you admit you did something wrong, you get in trouble. But if you deny it, they let you keep your job!”
It didn’t stop there. The children asked questions about NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem, the opioid crisis, a “toy like the one Matt Lauer gave his coworker,” and how the GOP “tax cuts” will “make your health care disappear.”
Kids say the darnedest things.
