Alec Baldwin wins Donald Trump impersonation in the opening sketch of Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live’s 42nd season opened with the parody of the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. SNL has always had a take on the presidential elections in the USA; and of course the opening sketch of the season needed to have the most topical news peg as in tradition with the show. As The New York Times pointed out:

“The lampooning of the presidential debate has become a quadrennial tradition at SNL. It’s an institution that has yielded such enduring moments as when, in 1988, Jon Lovitz (in the guise of Michael Dukakis) contemplated Dana Carvey (as the elder George Bush) and groused, ‘I can’t believe I’m losing to this guy’; in 1992, when Mr. Carvey simultaneously played Mr. Bush and his challenger Ross Perot (the latter performance had been recorded ahead of time); and in 2000, when Will Ferrell (as George W. Bush) summarized the best argument for his candidacy in a single word, ‘strategery.’”

The Emmy Award winning Kate Mckinnon returned as Hillary Clinton in the sketch and she was pitted against Alec Baldwin with Trump’s signature toupee and grimace. Michael Che played the deadpan moderator Lester Holt. Baldwin is pegged to play Trump for the entire season, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Last year’s Trump, Taran Killam, did not return this year; neither did long-running Obama imitator Jay Pharoah. This eagerly awaited sketch, which opened the show on Saturday, 1 October 2016; mixed some of the real-life zingers and gaffes from Monday’s debate with the show’s own satirical takes on the political showdown. [caption id=“attachment_3031336” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE – “Margot Robbie” Episode 1705 – Pictured: (l-r) Alec Baldwin as Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump and Kate McKinnon as Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton during the “Debate Cold Open” sketch on October 1, 2016 Image courtesy: Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images[/caption] Baldwin started his Trump impression with the lines like, “I am going to be so good tonight, I am going to be so calm and so presidential that all of you watching are going to cream your jeans.” It seems obvious from the lines that the SNL writers seem to be on Clinton’s side with lines like, “Trumped-up trickle down economics.” Trump goes on to address Lester Holt as ‘Coltraine’ and launches into a very SNL-ish about the state of African Americans. “The thing about the blacks… is that they’re killing each other,” Trump began. “All the blacks live on one street in Chicago all on one street. I looked it up this morning, it’s called Hell Street. And they are killing each other just like I am killing this debate, thank you.” Holt shook his head. “Clinton, do you have a response?” “Not a response, more of a request,” a grinning Clinton responded. “Can America vote right now?” SNL wants you to vote for Clinton. _Will & Grace_ want you to vote for Clinton , The West Wing wants you to vote for Clinton. Its also interesting to know that Trump’s reality series; The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice, were both housed by NBC, which also produces SNL; but the studio ended business ties with him when he made inflammatory statements against Mexican immigrants in his election speeches. Here’s the sketch: