SNL debuts a new Trump and takes on Aaron Rodgers' vaccine stance in cold open

Saturday Night Live skewered Aaron Rodgers over his COVID-19 vaccine stance in its latest cold open, which also featured the debut of a new take on former President Donald Trump.

The sketch show kicked off by having Cecily Strong's Jeanine Pirro interview Pete Davidson's Aaron Rodgers after the Green Bay Packers quarterback contracted COVID-19 and was revealed to be unvaccinated. On the show, Davidson's Rodgers complained he was being attacked by the "woke mob" — just like the real Rodgers did — and insisted he didn't lie about getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

"I never lied," Davidson's Rodgers said. "I took all my teammates into a huddle, got all their faces three inches away from my wet mouth, and told them, 'Trust me, I'm more or less immunized. Go team!'"

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Davidson's Rodgers also proclaimed it's "my body and my COVID" and that he can "give it to whoever I want," adding, "At the end of the day, my record is still 7-1, meaning of the eight people I've infected, seven are fine."

Later in the sketch, SNL brought out former President Donald Trump, played this time by James Austin Johnson. Johnson, a new cast member who earned acclaim for his Trump impressions prior to joining SNL, has also been playing President Biden this season. The sketch depicted Trump's attempts to take credit for Republican Glenn Youngkin's recent win in the Virginia governor's race, even as Youngkin tried to distance himself from the former president and even remove himself from a split-screen shot with him.

"I just wanted to congratulate Glenn Youngkin, and mostly myself, on a tremendous victory in Virginia," Johnson's Trump said.

Johnson's Trump proceeded to essentially take over Pirro's show to offer a series of random takes on various topics, from Star Wars to Marvel's Eternals and even Chris Pratt's casting as Mario. Check out the new version of Trump in the full sketch below.

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