‘SNL’ Mocks GOP ‘Kid’s Table’ Presidential Debate In Cold Open

The new episode of Saturday Night Live mocked the latest Republican presidential debate by joking about former President Donald Trump’s dominance in the race, even though he has refused to appear onstage with his competitors.

The cold open began with a description of the event as the “Republican kids table debate” by NBC’s Lester Holt (played by Keenan Thompson).

All the actors introduced themselves before they revisited Wednesday night’s debate highlights. 

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (played by Molly Kearny) opened, “My wife said I could try this one more time!” 

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (played by Heidi Gardner) announced in response that she was “excited to look good in comparison.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis (played by John Higgins), followed Haley and was introduced as “Florida governor and owner of the world’s most upsetting smile.”

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (played by Ego Nwodim), announced in his introduction, “I’mma talk a lot tonight.” 

The introductions were rounded out by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (played by Devon Walker) when he responded to his title, “Oh, is that me?”

Holt hesitantly replied, “It is,” before he moved on to questions.

Ramaswamy kicked off the debate when he refused to respond to Holt’s question, and instead insisted he would not answer the question and use this platform to say Haley’s daughter is on TikTok.

It was nod to a moment in the third Republican debate where Ramaswamy said, “In the last debate, she made fun of me for actually joining TikTok while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time. So you might want to take care of your family first.”

In response, Haley said: “Leave my daughter out of your voice. You’re just scum.”

Haley then promised the crowd that one of the people on the stage would be the Republican nominee for 2024.

She was quickly interrupted by Trump, who walked out in front of the other candidates and snorted, “How adorable, they actually think they’ve got a chance. Sad in some ways, but in other ways, funny.” 

Trump proceeded to attack Ramaswamy, and said the entrepreneur was “rich and rude” but wouldn’t win because he is not white.

He followed up with a dig at DeSantis: “Poor Ron DeSantis, even SNL doesn’t think he has a chance. If they did it’d be like Paul Rudd or something in there.”

Johnson also mocked the ex-president’s recent blunders and ongoing legal battles and referred to his “adorable middle-aged children with a penchant for breaking the law.”

Timothée Chalamet hosted the episode and addressed the end of the writer’s strike in a musical monologue, followed by the night’s musical guest, Boygenius.