Saturday Night Live returned with a cold open that mocked Virginia "Ginni" Thomas as "the Yoko Ono of the Supreme Court."
The episode, hosted by comedian Jerrod Carmichael, began with a parody of a Fox and Friends segment, with Mikey Day as co-host Brian Kilmeade telling his colleagues that downloading former president Donald Trump's TRUTH social app has caused his phone to get "very, very hot."
"Like over 140 degrees," he said. "It burned my son actually. Anyway, TRUTH Social—five stars."
Heidi Gardner, playing co-host Ainsley Earhardt, then chimes in: "Speaking of truths alright, crush of the week—Ted Cruz — absolutely wiped the floor with Ketanji Brown Jackson last week by waving a children's book at her."
Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni Thomas, played by Kenan Thompson and Kate McKinnon, were then brought on, with Day's Kilmeade noting they were "handling their own little controversy this week."
Thompson's Thomas was asked if he was feeling OK after his recent hospital stay.
"I guess we'll see," he said, after a chuckle.
Day's Kilmeade then references text messages that Ginni Thomas sent to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, urging him to challenge the results of the 2020 election.
"Ginni, the left is currently losing their minds over a couple of completely normal texts you sent to your pal Mark Meadows on January 6, is that right?" he asked.
"It sure is," McKinnon's Ginni Thomas replied.
"And now they want the honorable justice to recuse himself," Alex Moffat, as Steve Doocy, added. "I mean, you're allowed to speak your mind."
McKinnon's Ginni Thomas replied: "Yes, and I don't want any trouble. I take my duty as the Yoko Ono of the Supreme Court very seriously.
"All I want is a tidal wave of biblical vengeance to wash away the Biden crime family all the way to Gitmo and then we release the Kraken."
Democrats have called on Justice Thomas to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, while some have gone further and called for him to resign from the high court or face impeachment.
SNL's cold open later interviewed Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, over FaceTime.
Asked if he saw Will Smith slap Chris Rock at the Oscars, he replied by referring to Smith as the character he played in romantic comedy Hitch.
"I did see slap. I enjoyed slap, I was, I was very impressed with my Hitch," he said.
Gardner, as Earhardt, then asked: "Now sir, the January 6th committee is gearing up to make all sorts of claims, so let's just put this to rest. Did you commit a coup, sir?"
Trump replied: "No, no, you know what, there was no coup. It was an event, perhaps a takeback event. A coup, perhaps."
After going off on a tangent, he adds that "in many ways, it was an intentional planned coup, yes."
Moffat's Doocy then questioned Trump about the reported seven-hour gap in White House call logs on January 6, 2021.
"You didn't use a burner phone, did you sir?" he asked.
"Nope, not true, never used burner phone except for perhaps January 6th during that seven-hour period" Johnson's Trump replied.
"Let's be real sir, the left wants to paint January 6th as some violent revolution, and it wasn't," Day's Kilmeade said.
"Could have been, should have been, maybe," Johnson's Trump replied.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on abortion rights, race, education, ... Read more
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