The jokes write themselves. Literally.
And apparently, so does the material when Nicki Minaj decides that hitching her wagon to Donald Trump is a good career move.
Saturday Night Live spent part of its Halloween cold open Saturday (Oct. 31) doing what comedians everywhere have been doing since Minaj decided to become MAGA’s newest celebrity mascot: wondering just how much more ridiculous this whole thing could get.
Cast member Saidah Belo-Osagie popped up near the end of the sketch playing Minaj, after James Austin Johnson’s Trump had been busy patting himself on the back for attracting the rapper to his political circus.
“Trump’s out here killing it,” Belo-Osagie’s Minaj declared, “and by it, I mean my career.”
Ouch. Somebody check on the Barbz.
The sketch also floated Minaj as Trump’s next White House press secretary, which would be hilarious if the idea hadn’t actually been entertained by people inside the administration.
The parody was inspired by Minaj’s Oct. 25 appearance at Trump’s rally in Port Huron, Michigan, where she traveled aboard Air Force One with the president and publicly backed Republican candidates Mike Rogers and John James ahead of Tuesday’s (Nov. 3) midterm elections.
During the rally, Trump invited Minaj to address the crowd and made a series of comments about her appearance. Because apparently, the president of the United States has graduated from governing to hosting a very uncomfortable episode of Love Connection.
The press secretary jokes weren’t entirely pulled out of thin air, either. A Trump staffer reportedly floated Minaj for the position during the Air Force One trip, and Trump later told The Benny Show that it was “a good idea,” adding, “I’m gonna think about that.”
Minaj, meanwhile, has embraced her new political bestie, declaring she is “not going anywhere” after Trump referred to her as his “favorite.”
Well, that’s certainly one way to secure an endorsement. Another way might be releasing an album, but apparently, we’re trying something different. The Halloween cold open itself was built around a trip through a budget haunted attraction, with Grace Reiter and Jeremy Culhane playing a couple on a date and Kenan Thompson serving as their Grim Reaper guide.
Then came Tom Hanks as David S. Pumpkins, the wonderfully bizarre character he introduced on SNL in 2016, accompanied by his dancing skeleton sidekicks Mikey Day and former cast member Bobby Moynihan.
Before the character could get too comfortable, Johnson’s Trump interrupted the proceedings.
“I’ll save you four minutes: he keeps popping up and confusing people on the ride. The end,” he told the audience before comparing himself to Pumpkins: “We both appeared in 2016, we’re both very loud, very orange.”
He then pivoted to complaining about Republican polling ahead of the midterms before Belo-Osagie’s Minaj made her entrance to deliver the evening’s most obvious punchline.
Minaj has not publicly addressed the sketch.
For context, the rapper isn’t exactly some random celebrity looking for a second act. She is one of the most successful artists in Billboard chart history. In 2018, she became the first woman to log 100 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, and she holds the record for the most Hot 100 top 10s among female rappers. In 2020, she and Doja Cat became the first female rap duo to top the Hot 100 with the remix of “Say So.”
That’s quite a résumé to put on the table just to end up being a punchline in a Trump sketch.
The episode was hosted by Obsession star Inde Navarrette, making her SNL hosting debut, with Gracie Abrams serving as the musical guest for her second appearance on the show. Abrams performed following the Oct. 29 release of her new single, “Here You Come, There You Go,” and ahead of her Look at My Life arena tour, which kicks off Dec. 2 in Denver in support of her third album, Daughter From Hell.
But let’s be honest: The night’s biggest surprise wasn’t David S. Pumpkins returning from the dead.
It was Nicki Minaj discovering that the quickest way to get back into the headlines might be to become the court jester of the MAGA movement.
