‘SNL’ mocks President Trump over rising gas prices during cold weather
“Saturday Night Live” kicked off its latest cold opening with President Trump (played by James Austin Johnson) discussing Iran and rising gas prices.
NEW YORK – A new documentary explores one of America’s great joys: making fun of the president.
Josh Greenbaum’s film “Playing POTUS,” which chronicles the history of the American president who was ridiculed on “Saturday Night Live,” premiered on June 6th at the Tribeca Festival in New York City. Dana Carvey, Will Ferrell, Alec Baldwin and others have recalled impersonating the president in movies, suggesting the cartoon may have played a major role in shaping Americans’ views of their leaders.
After the screening, Greenbaum participated in a panel discussion with legendary former “SNL” writers Jim Downey and Robert Smigel, and James Austin Johnson, who currently plays President Donald Trump on the sketch show.
Johnson drew laughs at the premiere by belting out Trump’s voice and jumping from one topic to another, much like he does in the cold opening of “SNL.” The comedian also shared some insight into how he approaches the role.
“I’m thinking about a guy who’s been working in retail for like 50 years, sitting in a corner in some uncomfortable chair and doing the same thing to every new employee that walks by,” Johnson said, adding, “I like to play it like a guy talking to himself in a room, but he’s just saying stuff like that.”
The documentary depicts how some comedians had personal favoritism towards the politicians they played, with Kate McKinnon saying she felt “very protective” of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she played her on SNL. The panel’s moderator then asked Johnson if Trump needed a certain level of empathy to attack the president.
“If you can’t tell from my attitude towards Donald Trump how I feel about him, you’re an idiot,” Johnson quipped. Despite this, he said people who come to see his live performances often end up leaving because they get the misconception that “I love Donald Trump.”
“I think I probably play his charm a little more than Alec (Baldwin),” Johnson said. “I think that plays into the secret weapon that he’s deploying, and that’s that he’s a funny guy. Intentionally and unintentionally, he’s kind of a hilarious guy. That’s not what I look for when I vote for someone, but that was very powerful.”
During an audience Q&A, attendees asked the panelists if they felt they had to walk on eggshells while mocking the president because of concerns about repercussions, and Johnson directly asked if he feared President Trump.
“Am I afraid of some crazy person using military force and targeting individuals?” Johnson asked. “Well, I hope my name never comes out of his mouth.”
USA TODAY has reached out to the White House for comment.
Post-screening discussions covered a variety of topics, from the influence of political comedies to the evolution of “SNL” itself.
Downey, who wrote for the show for decades starting in 1976, said he sometimes felt “a little too political” on “SNL,” noting that there was a time when cold opens weren’t always about politics or the week’s news like they are today.
“Our cold opening…was only about a third of it political at most,” he said. Things changed in the mid-1980s when political sketches “started getting a lot of attention,” Downey explained, and creator Lorne Michaels “was like a daily newspaper, and we had an obligation to the public to bring politics to the forefront.”
Stars like Maya Rudolph, Keegan-Michael Key and Chevy Chase also appear in “Playing POTUS,” which examines how impressions of certain presidents have changed American politics. For example, the film questions whether Chase’s portrayal of Gerald Ford as a bumbling idiot on SNL contributed to Ford’s defeat in the 1976 election. When asked if he felt guilty about this, Chase laughed and replied, “No, not at all.”
Another big focus is the idea that being allowed to caricature the president is a privilege that shouldn’t be taken for granted and is part of what makes America great. “This democracy will survive as long as we’re allowed to,” Ferrell, who played George W. Bush on “SNL,” said in an interview during the film.
