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'I Wish I Had Never Been President': SNL Imagines 'It's A Wonderful Trump'

It's Christmas and Kellyanne Conway spots Donald Trump at a party.

"After we lost the campaign, the devil did give me my soul back," Conway (played by Kate McKinnon) says. "Excuse me, I have to go find my husband who I do speak to now."

Saturday Night Live spoofed the White House in a parody of It's a Wonderful Life, featuring Alec Baldwin as a beleaguered President Trump who is visited by an angel, Clarence (Kenan Thompson) and tells him he wishes he had never been president. The cold open got a rise out of the White House and served as a reunion of celebrity cameos to relive the year's political turmoil.

In the sketch, which you can watch above, Clarence grants Trump's wish and the two walk through a Christmas party.

They meet Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Aidy Bryant), who says, "I just wanted to thank you for suggesting I go into PR. I've made so much money working for so many awesome companies, like Facebook, and Ashley Madison, and the Romaine Lettuce Association."

Clarence says Hillary Clinton won, because "in this reality all she had to do to win was visit Wisconsin once."

Trump's two sons appear, with Eric (Alex Moffat) solving a Rubik's cube. SNL has lampooned Eric Trump as being an overgrown boy. In this telling, Don, Jr. (Mikey Day) says Eric had time to attend adult education classes because he wasn't running the Trump Organization.

Every person in the room seems better off without Trump in the Oval Office. Melania Trump (Cecily Strong) says she got divorced, improved her English and launched a real estate empire. Robert Mueller (Robert DeNiro) spent more time with his grandson. Michael Pence (Beck Bennett) became a DJ. Brett Kavanaugh (Matt Damon) hung out more with his high school drinking friends.

"This night has put everything in perspective," Trump says at the end. "I've had an epiphany. I guess the world does need me to be president after all."

"That was not the lesson I'd hoped," Clarence deadpans.

Tweeting Sunday, Trump wrote, "A REAL scandal is the one sided coverage, hour by hour, of networks like NBC & Democrat spin machines like Saturday Night Live."

Musical guests Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson performed "Nothing Breaks Like A Heart," which was riveting both for Cyrus's talent and because of her glittering track suit top that threatened to open and create a wardrobe malfunction.

A skit of "Oscar Host Auditions" was the only pre-recorded act to feature Pete Davidson, playing the Bohemian Rhapsody actor Rami Malek. Earlier Saturday, New York police had checked on Davidson after he posted note on Instagram that started, "I really don't want to be on this earth anymore."

In the sketch, McKinnon's Ellen DeGeneres says, "I haven't done anything controversial in my life, except for being gay, you know. But people like that now. Except for the guy that was supposed to host." Her nod to the antigay tweets that resulted in Kevin Hart stepping down as Oscar host was the only reference; other actors focused on the impressions.

And, host Matt Damon reappears as one of the Christmas ornaments relegated to the back of the tree with other outcasts and misfits. He says he was a promotional Goodwill Hunting ornament. "On the back of me, you know what it says? It says, 'Happy holidays from the Weinstein Company. Yeah, that holds up.' "

On "Weekend Update," hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost swap material. "Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari for the first time denied months-old rumors that he had died and been replaced by a lookalike from Sudan," reads Jost. "See, even Africans can't tell black people apart," he continues, while sheepishly laughing into his hand at the joke his black co-host had written for him.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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