On the eve of Easter, Saturday Night Live opened with a scene from the Last Supper in which Donald Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, compared himself to Jesus.
It comes just days after the former president was indicted, making him the first president in US history to ever be charged with a felony after leaving office.
It was a historic moment highlighted in SNL’s cold open on Saturday as the cast portrayed the Last Supper as Jesus told his disciples:
“One of you will betray me. And though I have committed no crime, I shall be arrested, tried, and found guilty.”
Johnson if Trump suddenly appeared on stage and asked, “Sound familiar?”
‘Thank you so much. A famous, great man arrested for no reason. If you haven’t got it together folks, I’m comparing myself to Jesus again,” he continued.
Saturday Night Live opened with The Last Supper and an appearance by Donald Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, who compared himself to Jesus just days after being indicted
It was a historic moment highlighted in SNL’s cold open on Saturday as the cast portrayed the Last Supper as Jesus told his disciples, “One of you will betray me.”
Judas, depicted in the sketch on the left, responds to the statement with “what?”
Johnson continued Trump with his monologue: “And what better time than on his birthday, Easter? Right now I am being persecuted on a level the world has never seen, even worse than the late great Jesus. You know, a lot of people say we’re very similar.
“We’re both very tall, very popular, and both downright white Americans. You know, Jesus did incredible things. Some would call them miracles. In terms of fish and in terms of bread. Fish and bread.’
Johnson, 33, wore prosthetics to make his skin appear closer to that of the 76-year-old president during his speech.
Warming up to his theme, he continued, “He rose from the dead on the third day. I would have done it faster, maybe two days. I think we could have done it much faster.
“He had a good mind for business. Water in wine. Pure profit. And he had big, big gatherings, just like me, and many of his followers got into big, big trouble, just like mine. All because I told them exactly what Jesus would have said, get very violent and start a war.”
The character drew parallels between himself and Jesus when he compared his shaky relationship with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.
“Ron DeSantis came up to me, with tears in his eyes, he said, ‘Help me, Mr. Trump, I’m going to lose my election,'” Johnson said. “So I very generously pretended to like him, and then he did a Judas, and now he can’t even get the gays out of Disney World.”
The character drew parallels between himself and Jesus when he compared his shaky relationship with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.
While Trump has officially been in the presidential race since November, his closest competitor, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, has yet to officially announce a bid for the White House.
He then took it a step further and announced that he was better than Jesus, whom he called a nepo baby – a person who received benefits thanks to a successful parent.
‘Mr. Jesus, kind of a dude, but now people are saying I might even be better than Jesus because I’m a self-made billionaire and Christ was, let’s call it what it is, a fake baby,” Johnson said as Trump. “I mean, his father was God: it’s pretty easy to start a religion if your father is God. He did Good Friday. I said why not make it great? We can make it great.’
Johnson as Trump finished the skit, saying “they’ll come get me, lock me up,” referring to his indictment.
“Because like Jesus, I was only being nice to a sex worker, and now they want to put me in jail. Just awful. But who knows, folks, maybe prison will make me even more popular.
And that’s the story of Easter, the Trump character proclaimed, adding, “Happy birthday, Jesus.”
Johnson as Trump finished the skit saying ‘they will come get me, lock me up’, referring to his indictment and arrest last week
Trump was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (pictured) for 34 felonies, most of them involving hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016
He pleaded not guilty and immediately flew back to Florida to deliver a passionate speech, affirming his position of innocence and claiming that the witch hunt continues.
Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels in a 2006 photo from her MySpace page
On Tuesday, Trump was charged by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office with 34 felonies, most of them involving hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.
He pleaded not guilty in New York and immediately flew back to Florida to deliver a passionate speech, affirming his position of innocence and claiming that the witch hunt continues.
This weekend, Trump was back in Miami enjoying rounds of golf as he watched his poll ratings rise, creating space between him and Ron DeSantis.
While Trump has officially been in the presidential race since November, his most prominent competitor — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — has yet to officially announce a bid from the White House.
DeSantis won another term at the Florida governor’s mansion in November by a margin of nearly 20 points in a state that has historically been a battle between Democrats and Republicans.
However, some of that momentum seems to be stalling as Trump rises in the polls at the governor’s expense.
Senior GOP officials are said to be concerned about whether DeSantis has the charisma to perform on the campaign trail outside of his home state.
While touted as an effective legislator, some of his critics say he struggles with the need to interact personally with potential voters, a practice nicknamed “grip-and-grin” politics.
A Yahoo poll from days after Trump’s impeachment found Trump holding a safe lead of nearly 30 points over DeSantis, illustrating a gain for Trump of about 20 points in the polls since January.
Trump will sit in court in Manhattan on Tuesday, surrounded by his defense team. On Wednesday, he sent a statement praising the professionalism of the officers and court officials he had met the day before
A post-indictment poll showed Trump ahead of DeSantis
Regardless of Trump’s significant lead over DeSantis, the same poll, according to the Yahoo poll, shows voters are largely against Trump running for a second term if his indictment leads to a conviction.
When asked, “If Donald Trump is convicted of a crime in this case, do you think he will be allowed to run for president again in the future?” 52 percent said they shouldn’t.
Thirty-one percent of respondents said he would have to serve another term. That gap among Republicans was that 56 percent thought he should run for president again, 24 percent thought he shouldn’t, and 20 percent doubted.