SNL's President Trump and Skeletor Stephen Bannon declare war on Australia, Mexico, and Germany


Saturday Night Live opened with the return of Alec Baldwin as President Trump and a Skeletor lookalike as his chief strategist, Stephen Bannon. The skit begins with Trump learning his daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner — who are believed to be a moderating force in the White House — are observing Shabbat and therefore unable to moderate. "When the Jews are away, the goys will play," Trump declares before summoning Bannon to his side.
The game of the evening turns out to be rapidly escalating calls with world leaders, specifically the prime minister of Australia, the president of Mexico, and the chancellor of Germany. By the end of every call, Trump has declared war on each country — "America first, Australia sucks, your reef is failing, prepare to go to war!" — and failed to force Mexico to pay for the border wall. I dunno, though, I kind of think his free cruise scam idea could work. Watch the full sketch below. Bonnie Kristian
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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
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