Alec Baldwin returned to “SNL” on Saturday’s politics-focused cold open, but the former Trump impersonator took on a different figure entirely for this episode: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The cold open imagined the private meeting between outgoing president Joe Biden (played by Dana Carvey) and incoming president Trump (James Austin Johnson), and in a bit that introduced a couple of Trump’s cabinet appointments, Baldwin stepped in as RFK Jr.
Baldwin’s appearance was met with an applause break, after which he touted his credentials as Trump’s pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services. “Americans need someone to teach them how to be healthy. Someone like me, a 70-year-old man with movie star looks and a worm in his brain,” he said.
The bit included digs at RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine stance as well. “I care deeply about a woman’s right to choose — to choose to give her child polio,” he continued as Baldwin nailed RFK Jr.’s signature voice.
And on his way out, Baldwin’s RFK Jr. nodded to the very true story about how the former presidential hopeful dumped a dead bear cub in Central Park. “I gotta go. I got a dead dolphin in my car. I think I might saw it in half and put it in Central Park,” he said before leaving.
The bit also introduced cast member Sarah Sherman as Matt Gaetz, Trump’s much-derided pick for attorney general. She wasted no time making fun of Gaetz’s physical features and alleged preference for young women.
“If anyone tries to break the law I’ll tell ‘em what I told my eyebrows: Freeze,” Sherman’s Gaetz said, then quipped, “Of course I had to resign from congress because the confirmation process comes at the busiest time of year for me: Girl’s volleyball season.”
The “Saturday Night Live” cold open also dug into the conversation between Biden and Trump, with Johnson’s Trump admitting he’s weary about returning to The White House.
“Ugh, I forgot how boring President is. Love running, hate being,” he said. “I hate the White House. So old, so dated, so many of the carpets are stinky and sticky at the same time. Sort of like being at a Regal Cinemas. Now I have to be here for four years, possibly longer.”
But he wasn’t in a rush to exit. “I can’t go back to Mar-A-Lago because Elon is there and he will not leave. This guy’s cringe AF,” he added.
As the cold open came to a close, Carvey’s Biden said he believes he would have beat Trump. “Joe that’s one of the craziest things I’ve heard anyone say,” Johnson’s Trump replied. “And for that reason, I’d like to offer you a position in my cabinet.”