elon musk dumps on 'snl's' spoof of trump-zelenskyy clash and mike myers impression
'humour fails when it lies,' tech mogul tweeted
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mike myers spoofed elon musk on a recent episode of 'saturday night live.'
nbc/ getty images
elon musk issued a terse five-word review of saturday night live’s spoof of last week’s meeting between u.s. president donald trump and ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy.
snl opened its show over the weekend with a skit that featured trump (played by james austin johnson) and vice president jd vance (bowen yang) berating zelenskyy (mikey day).
making his first appearance since december 2015, snl alum mike myers also appeared as a chainsaw-wielding musk, the tech billionaire who owns x, space x and tesla.
“we love your outfit. very official and respectful,” johnson’s trump joked at myers’ t-shirt and jeans look.
“thanks, donald, what are you doing in my office? you know, i’m the president now, right? i’m kidding. i’m kidding. maybe not?” myers’ musk replied.
the phony trump then joked about musk’s newly-created role as the head of the department of government efficiency (doge). “they’re doing mass firings in the government. we love mass firings because you don’t have to know what any of their names are or what exactly they do,” johnson’s trump quipped.
“i mean, we’re not going to get it perfect, you know, we are firing the non essential employees, like air traffic controllers,” myers goofily responded in character.
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“sure, some of the planes are going to land upside down,” johnson’s trump replied, referencing a delta air lines flight that crash-landed at toronto’s pearson airport last month. “but then the luggage falls right into your lap and you’re ready to go. it’s efficient. and elon’s got this incredible team of professionals, like a 19-year-old who’s known as ‘big balls.’ big balls, you’ve been doing some awesome doge stuff, right?”
the cold open also made fun of trump and vance’s oval office thrashing of zelenskyy in washington last week.
“you don’t have the cards,” trump’s character wisecracked, echoing a line from the real-life get-together. “i have the cards. i have skip, i have draw four, i have reverse, i have get out of jail free. the supreme court gave me that one.”
johnson’s trump also took a swipe at zelenskyy’s outfit, comparing his look to that of a star trek character.
“you’re not even wearing a suit. it’s disrespectful. who shows up to the white house in a t-shirt and jeans like a garbage person?”
during friday’s in-person meeting in washington, vance hammered zelenskyy for being ungrateful. “have you said thank you once in this entire meeting?” the vice president asked zelensky
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with trump getting ready to apply tariffs on his home country, toronto-born myers returned at the end of the episode sporting a black “canada is not for sale” t-shirt that featured the canadian flag. as the credits rolled, myers mouthed “elbows up” to the camera, referencing a common hockey term used to signal it’s time to fight back.
the bit was one of the night’s most talked about online, with many praising myers for standing up for canadians. but musk seemingly lashed out at the parody in a post to x, writing, “humour fails when it lies.”
his assessment followed another review musk gave last fall when he was lampooned by snl alum dana carvey after trump’s re-election.
as the snl cast sarcastically showered praise on trump — joking that they were hoping to remain on his good side — carvey popped up wearing a dark maga hat and musk’s all-black wardrobe.
“check it out: dark maga. yeah! but seriously, i run the country now,” carvey said in a faux south african accent. “america’s going to be like one of my rockets. they’re super cool and super fun, but there’s a slight chance it could blow up and everybody dies. haha!”
carvey threw his hands in the air and ended his appearance by exclaiming, “see you in the white house!”
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responding to a follower who shared a clip of the segment and asked, “is this funny to anyone?” musk said, “snl has been dying slowly for years, as they become increasingly out of touch with reality.”
in another social media post, musk slammed carvey’s impersonation, writing, “dana carvey just sounds like dana carvey.” he also made fun of the opening saying the cast members “are so mad that” trump won the election. when another user claimed more people watched the snl sketch on x than on tv, musk agreed with a laughing emoji.
musk, who has become a close ally of trump’s, has previously dismissed snl as “woke” and deemed it “so rarely funny these (days).”
last month, a petition was launched to strip the world’s richest man of his canadian citizenship. in response, musk tweeted — and deleted — that “canada is not a real country.”
despite appearing as a host twice, including back in 2015 when he was running for his first presidency, trump has his own checkered past with snl.
“i once hosted saturday night live, and the ratings were huuuge! now, however, the ratings are lower than ever before, and the show will probably be put to rest,’” trump wrote on truth social in 2022.
after alec baldwin started impersonating him during his first presidency, trump called the show “unwatchable” and said his “portrayal stinks.”
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last month, two-time oscar winner tom hanks came under fire for his portrayal of a racist trump voter in an act for the show’s 50th anniversary.
“this show wonders why their ratings are in the gutter,” former robert f. kennedy jr. aide link lauren wrote in a post to x. “trump won the popular vote. this tired trope that maga is racist is disgusting … the current republican party is a big tent coalition compromised of many former democrats. good riddance, snl!”
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