On Friday, Donald Trump was in the awkward position of denying to NBC’s Today Show that he pretended to be a publicist in order to brag about himself. The next day, May 14, Trump’s denials were mocked by NBC’s Saturday Night Live in its opening skit, leaving little doubt that the story—first unearthed by The Washington Post—would be hanging over the presumptive GOP presidential nominee at least a little bit longer.
The skit opens in the Trump Tower, where Darrell Hammond, as Trump, is on the phone with a reporter.”No, it’s true. I’m telling you. Mr. Trump is the real-life inspiration for Iron Man,” he says. “Who am I? I’m Joey Pepperoni.”
According to the Washington Post, Trump would masquerade as a publicist in the 1980s and 1990s, using the name “John Miller” or “John Baron,” and reporters on the receiving end of those calls said “Miller” or “Baron” sounded a lot like Trump. In the SNL skit, Hammond’s Trump tells a skeptical reporter, “I am not Donald Trump in disguise. This is just what classy people sound like, OK?”
The skit also includes a dig at how many prominent Republican leaders have distanced themselves from Trump. Bobby Moynihan’s Chris Christie, the NJ governor, shows up and explains why one GOP leader after another won’t be his vice presidential running mate. What about Lindsey Graham, the US Senator from South Carolina? “He said he would love to but then he laughed so hard, I had to walk away,” Christie reports.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Hammond’s Trump says after going through the list. “Why doesn’t anyone want to be my VP?”
Watch the SNL skit here: