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Saturday Night Live took aim at Donald Trump’s involvement in the email scandal surrounding Jeffrey Epstein.
During the Nov. 15 episode, which saw Glen Powell serve as host and Olivia Dean perform as the musical guest, the Cold Open poked fun at the emails recently released by the House Oversight Committee from the late convicted sexual offender’s estate. (The president, 79, who was mentioned multiple times, has since fallen under renewed scrutiny over his relationship with Epstein, who died via suicide in a jail cell in August 2019.)
The sketch began with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt (played by Ashley Padilla) taking questions from journalists, who asked about the release.
As one, played by Kenan Thompson, questioned what Trump “has to hide,” James Austin Johnson appeared in character as the president, responding, “I can answer that.”
“I am hiding almost nothing, just enough to make it extremely suspicious,” Johnson, 36, as Trump continued, then dancing around his ties to the emails.
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When another journalist played by Mikey Day asked, “What about the specific email that said Epstein said Trump was the dog that hasn’t barked?” Johnson deflected.
And as another reporter, portrayed by Jeremy Culhane, asked about Trump and Epstein’s relationship, and speculation about the late financier being at the White House, Johnson’s Trump shied away from the question once more.
“Trump exists across many timelines — it’s the Trump multiverse theory, and we just happen to be living in the worst possible one,” he said.
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Johnson then teased as Trump, “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to release all the Epstein files,” before jokingly stating that each would be “on sale for the low, low price of $800.”
Holding up a picture frame with a redacted email inside, Johnson continued, “You know, this is a beautiful, one-of-a-kind, printed out screenshot — in very low resolution — of one of the many files mentioning President Trump. It makes a great stocking stuffer.”
“I just ordered the one that says, ‘Does Putin have the photo of Trump blowing Bubba.’ We love that one, whatever the hell that means,” he added, referring to one highly-publicized email released.
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The Epstein-related files contain documents surrounding the late financier, who pleaded not guilty to one count of sex trafficking of minors and one count of conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors in July 2019, a month before his death. (Trump previously campaigned on releasing them prior to his recent backtracking, and the House is expected to vote next week on releasing all of the Epstein files.)
In a lengthy statement on Truth Social on Nov. 14, the president called the files a “hoax,” and he also accused Democrats of using the emails that mention him to distract from the federal government’s reopening following a historic shutdown.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson previously echoed Trump’s claims that the revelation of the exchange is an effort by Democrats to distract from the government reopening. “These emails prove literally nothing,” she said in a statement to PEOPLE. “Liberal outlets are desperately trying to use this Democrat distraction to talk about anything other than Democrats getting utterly defeated by President Trump in the shutdown fight. We won’t be distracted, and the entire Administration will continue fulfilling the promises the President was elected on, including Making America Affordable Again.”
Trump later stated on Air Force One on Friday, Nov. 14, that he “doesn’t care” that additional documents may soon see the light of day, as seen in video shared online by the White House.
Saturday Night Live airs weekends on NBC.
