‘SNL’ Cold Open: Donald Trump on Easter, Calls Ron DeSantis as Judas

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As the night before Easter begins, the latest episode of “Saturday Night Live” opens with a peaceful image of the members of the sketch show sitting at a long table, perfectly costumed and positioned alongside “The Last Supper ” by Leonardo da Vinci. But the silence was short-lived with the arrival of cast member James Austin Johnson, who took over the cold open by telling the Easter story as a monologue delivered by Donald Trump.

Last week’s episode also opened with a Trump spoof after the former president was indicted by a grand jury. On April 4, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. His arrest and arraignment made him the first president in US history to be charged with a crime after leaving office. And this milestone was also met on a cold open this week.

“A famous, wonderful person who was arrested for no reason. If you haven’t put it together folks, I compare myself again to Jesus. And what better time than his birthday, Easter,” said of Johnson as Trump. “As we speak, I am being persecuted to a degree, the likes of which the world has never seen. Worse than the last, great Jesus.”

In Trump’s incarnation, Johnson continued to offer comparisons between him and Jesus: “we’re both very tall, very popular, and both, frankly, white Americans.” He also jokes that, like Jesus, he held huge rallies and his followers got into serious trouble. Johnson’s Trump also referred to Jesus’ resurrection at Eastertime in three days: “I would have done it faster. Possibly two days. I should have done it faster,” Johnson scoffed.

The biblical allusions continued with Johnson comparing Florida governor Ron DeSantis to Judas, the infamous apostle who betrayed Jesus and suffered a gruesome death.

“I even have my own Judas: Ron DeSantis,” Johnson said as Trump. “Ron DeSantis came up to me, tears in his eyes, and said, ‘Help me, Mr. Trump, I’m going to lose my election.’ So I very generously pretended to like him. And then he made a Judas, and now he can’t let gays out of Disney World.

The jab comes the same week as DeSantis’ latest attempt to take control of Disney World and other Orlando theme parks with threats of tax increases in place.

Trump’s account of Easter included other taunts, such as calling Jesus Christ a “nepo baby” because of his parentage.

The April 8 episode features former “SNL” cast member Molly Shannon as host.

Shannon made her first appearance with her monologue, which she turned into a rousing showtune number that included cameo appearances from “SNL” exec producers Lorne Michaels and Martin Short.

Dressed in a sequined mini dress, Shannon sang the crowd pleaser “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” from the musical “Gypsy,” with exaggerated over-the-top Broadway performance touches. As he belts out “Curtain up! Light the lights,” Shannon said with new cast member Molly Kearney. Kearney said to his name “I’m not really on the show so I’m interrupting your song to get more camera time.”

Shannon kept stopping her show-stopper to check in with other cast members. Kenan Thompson told him he “couldn’t stop buying fake Rolexes”; Bowen Yang told her “I’m attracted to my therapist.” Michaels and Short are briefly pictured holding flutes of Champagne. Short yelled “I’m out of Ozempic” and started eating a sandwich.

Short joined Shannon and other cast members on stage for the high-kicking finale.

The Jonas Brothers performed for the third time on the “SNL” stage as the episode’s musical guests. The sibling band is set to debut their sixth studio album, “The Album,” on May 12. This week, the siblings released another single, titled “Waffle House,” in anticipation of the release of album.

“Saturday Night Live” stars Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Bowen Yang, Chloe Fineman, Punkie Johnson and Andrew Dismukes as well as Michael Che and Colin Jost, co-anchors of Weekend Update. James Austin Johnson, Sarah Sherman, Marcello Hernández, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker are featured players.

Produced by Broadway Video and SNL Studios, the series is currently in its 48th season. Lorne Michaels remains attached to the sketch show as series creator with Liz Patrick in the director’s chair.

Watch “Saturday Night Live” at 8:30 pm PT/11:30 pm ET on NBC and Peacock.

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