Leave it to Saturday Night Live (SNL) to ace every genre of humor. Speaking of political sketches, SNL drew its inspiration from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s latest series of press briefings, which have been replete with a lot of dodging of questions.
The official X handle of Saturday Night Live shared a clip of the sketch along with the caption, “White House press briefing with Karoline Leavitt and Trump.” The video showcases Ashley Padilla doing an impression of Leavitt as she opens the house to just “friendly questions.”
White House press briefing with Karoline Leavitt and Trump pic.twitter.com/tgVarzhDrl
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) November 16, 2025
The sketch then shows reel life Karoline Leavitt taking up, and even more quickly, dodging up a question from Chloe Fineman, who is seen portraying the role of CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “I’ll open the floor to questions starting with Kaitlan Collins from CNN — who I openly hate,” Ashley Padilla says at the beginning of the video.
When the reporter asks, “We definitely need to start with the 20,000 Epstein emails.” SNL’s version of Karoline replies, “You know you suck, right? Look, the only thing these emails prove is that President Trump did nothing wrong. If anything, his crime was loving too much. And possibly too young.”
After dodging multiple questions, Karoline signs off, saying, “We shall return to Epstein.” The sketch draws a leaf from Karoline Leavitt’s latest press briefings, where she was seen dodging questions multiple times. Here’s a little more context, in case it’s needed – Earlier this month, when the White House Press Secretary was asked about Donald Trump’s MRI scan, she dodged the question from a CNN reporter, replying, “As I said, I’ll check back for you.”
Reporter: Why did the President get an MRI?
Leavitt: I will check back on that. But as you all know because you are all witness to it, every single day the president is in optimal physical health.
Reporter: It’s a very specific procedure. It’s not generally routine. He said he… pic.twitter.com/p5SgLNPbZL
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 4, 2025
The Internet absolutely loved SNL’s sketch and was super vocal about it on social media platform X. “This is amazing,” a user wrote. “This has to be one of the best! Way to go SNL,” read a second comment. “I’m watching it now… nailed it,” a third added.
Some X users thought that Trump might go all Jimmy Kimmel Live! route on SNL as well. Back in September, Jimmy Kimmel’s show was briefly suspended after the comedian made a joke at the expense of Charlie Kirk. “Wait for Donald to demand that SNL be taken off the air,” an X user wrote. “Another President Trump Lawsuit Incoming,” an X user jokingly added to the conversation.
Another comment on the post read, “Brilliant.” Similar thoughts echoed in a comment that read, “This was one of the best Trump skits around.” Another one added, “This is terrible. The actual WH Press Secretary is much meaner and hateful.”
The Trump impersonator seemed to have garnered a separate fan base altogether, and it clearly reflected in remarks from X users like, “This has to be one of the best cold opens SNL has done in recent years. The guy playing Trump is so good at playing him.” James Austin Johnson featured as Donald Trump in the aforementioned sketch.
Another segment from the sketch that seemingly eclipsed everything else on Saturday Night Live was the bit mocking Trump’s hand. For months, Donald Trump has been pictured with make-up caked on his hands, raising concerns about his depleting health.
Saturday Night Live frequently roasts Trump in its sketches. Earlier this month, they posted one titled, “There’s a lot going on in the Oval Office,” where James Austin Johnson is seen doing an impression of the President.
In the clip, James, dressed up as Trump, touches upon the biggest news pieces of the week, from the East Wing demolition to a man collapsing at the Oval Office as Trump stood silently and watched. He also talked about the Democrats winning the election, all the commentary is backed by mimicry and oodles of humour.
