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Saturday Night Live’s cold open poked fun at the familiar quirks and personality traits of the presidential candidates including Melania Trump’s notable absence from her husband’s campaign.
In a spoof of Family Feud, host Steve Harvey (Kenan Thompson), introduced ‘Team Harris’ led by Vice President Kamala Harris (Maya Rudolph), including an excited Doug Emoff (Andy Samberg), a goofy Governor Tim Walz (Jim Gaffigan) and a confused President Joe Biden (Dana Carvey).
But ‘Team Trump’ seemed to be down a player.
After Thompson, as Harvey, introduced Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson), he gave Melania the floor – the only problem was there was no Melania.
“So strange, Melania was standing right next to me three years ago,” Johnson, as Trump, said.
The joke, well received by the audience, poked fun at Melania’s lacking appearance throughout Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. Over the last year, the former First Lady has only attended a handful of rallies or events – and often does not take center stage.
During the Republican National Convention, Melania appeared onstage alongside her husband and family but declined to speak, breaking a long-running tradition.
The former first lady has more recently appeared on television shows for interviews but that has been to promote her new memoir, Melania.
But it seems not even a Melania impersonator could find time in their schedule to appear in the SNL sketch.
The rest of the cold open leaned heavily into the media’s portrayal of the candidates as the two teams battled it out for glory.
Harris (Rudolph) and Trump (Johnson) first went head-to-head to see who could choose an item one would find in their car’s glovebox. Ultimately, Harris won that with her suggestion of “a Glock” – a reference to the vice president’s recent admission that she owns a firearm.
Emhoff (Samberg) found his wife’s suggestion so impressive he too suggested a gun, which ultimately was the number one answer on the board with “a second gun”.
Enthusiastically, Walz (Gaffigan) gave several options like napkins from Runza or Tums for when he eats something “spicy” like “tomato”. But none of his “white nonsense” were answers on the board.
A confused Biden (Carvey) asked “Conan” to buy a vowel.
Though ‘Team Trump’ was down a player without Melania, it had minimal impact because JD Vance (Bowen Yang) and Donald Trump Jr. (Mikey Day) were “told not to speak.” When it came time for Trump (Johnson) to give an answer, he instead “weaved” and changed the subject completely to complain about immigration.
