Haley uses her appearance on ‘SNL’ to poke fun at her Civil War gaffe and jab at a stand-in Trump
WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley poked fun at herself for a campaign misstep, but her main target during a “Saturday Night Live” appearance was Donald Trump, who participated in a skit mocking a stand-in for the former president for his refusal to debate her. and questioned his mental fitness.
“It was great tonight on SNL! Just know it was after Donald’s bedtime so I’m looking forward to the stream of unhinged tweets in the morning,” Haley posted early Sunday on X, formerly Twitter.
The segment is a mock CNN town hall with Trump in Columbia, South Carolina, where the next nominating contest will be held on February 24. Kenan Thompson and Punkie Johnson of “SNL” play Charles Barkley and Gayle King, respectively, and James Austin Johnson is Trump.
Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, is an audience member who is introduced as “someone who describes herself as a concerned voter in South Carolina” when she is asked to question the candidate.
“My question is: why don’t you debate Nikki Haley?” she asks.
Trump, the frontrunner for the nomination, has avoided all debates in the campaign so far, and Haley is his last major rival.
“Oh my God, it’s her, the woman who was in charge of security on January 6. It’s Nancy Pelosi,” the actor responds.
During a campaign speech in New Hampshire last month, Trump repeatedly appeared to confuse Haley, who was his U.N. ambassador, with the Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives. Trump had falsely claimed that Haley was in charge of security at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the building.
The U.S. Capitol Police are responsible for security on the Capitol grounds and for protecting Congress, along with the sergeants at arms of the House and Senate. Trump has accused Pelosi of rejecting the security he says his administration has offered, but a special House committee investigating the siege has found no evidence to support that claim.
After the town hall moderators correct the Trump stand-in, Haley asks, “Are you okay, Donald?” You may need a mental competency test.”
Trump boasted that he had “passed” cognitive tests in the past, and Johnson’s Trump told Haley, “You know what I did. I took the test and passed, okay? Perfect score. They said I’m 100% mental.”
The last question in the skit comes from an audience member, “SNL” host Ayo Edebiri, who stars in Hulu’s “The Bear.” She questions Haley, now called Ambassador Haley, about the root cause of the American Civil War. The candidate was asked about the reason for the war during a December town hall in New Hampshire, but she did not mention slavery in her answer. Hours later, she walked back her comments.
“I was just curious: What do you think was the main cause of the Civil War?” Edebiri asked Haley during the show. “Do you think it starts with an ‘S’ and ends with a ‘lavery’?”
Haley responded, “Yeah, I probably should have said that the first time,” before saying, “And live from New York, it’s ‘Saturday Night.’