Mike Myers crashed the cold open of “Saturday Night Live” to play President Trump’s new right-hand man, Elon Musk.
“Recently, our dealerships have been the targets of many attacks,” he said in the sketch. “Suddenly no one likes Tesla cars. I asked myself why, then I answered myself. Because of me!” Indeed, Tesla cars and dealerships have see a significant spike in vandalism and attacks.
Myers continued, saying that his solution to the problem would be to roll out a new car, the Tesla Model V. “The first electric car in history to be fully self-vandalizing! With features like self-smashing headlights, self-slashing tires, and A.I.-powered graffiti,” he said. “You can choose from penises or swastikas, or my favorite: swastikas made out of penises!”
Before Myers joined the sketch, James Austin Johnson was playing Trump — as usual — and making fun of the tariffs his administration is imposing on goods imported from other countries. “We need to send a message to the countries ripping us off. South Africa puts a 60% tariff on everything we send them, andthey’ve never sent us one good thing,” Johnson said. That’s when Myers ran onstage, crying, “What about me?” because Musk immigrated from South Africa.
When he first appeared, he was wearing a hat shaped like a piece of cheese. “That is from when I tried to buy the election in Wisconsin. I’m an idiot — I should have just bought Wisconsin,” he said, referring to the state’s recent Supreme Court race, in which democrat Susan Crawford beat Brad Schimel, to whom Musk donated a large sum of money.
Johnson said that the word “tariff” is short for “tariffic idea,” continuing, “They’re the backbone of my incredible plan for our economy. It’s actually better than a plan because it’s a series of random numbers, like the numbers on computer screens in ‘Severance.’ You have no idea what the hell they mean, but I know what the numbers mean. Okay?”
“They mean we’re going to make America wealthy again, okay? M.A.W.A.,” he continued. “Before that, we’re going to do M.A.G.D.A.: Make America Great Depression Again. It will be better than great. A fantastic, unbelievable depression.”
Somehow, Johnson also used tariffs to poke at Morgan Wallen’s widely gossiped-about appearance as the “Saturday Night Live” musical guest last week. Wallen awkwardly walked off of the stage at the end of the show while the rest of the cast and guests hugged and said goodnight to each other. Shortly afterwards, he posted a photo on Instagram of his private jet with the caption “Get me to God’s country.”
This week, Johnson said, “I even put tariffs on an island uninhabited by humans. It’s called Heard and McDonald Island,” he said. “McDonald Island. I would love to visit there. Can you imagine that? Big Mac and a hula skirt. Get me to god’s country, right? Remember that?”
Saturday’s episode of the NBC late-night sketch show was hosted by Jack Black with Elton John and Brandi Carlile performing together as musical guest.
