As if President Donald Trump knew his absence during Saturday Night Live’s cold open was felt, James Austin Johnson’s Trump made a surprise appearance, interrupting the New York City mayoral debate to remind everyone what the election is really about: him.
As the candidates—Ramy Youssef as Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, controversial SNL alum Shane Gillis as Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and host Miles Teller as former governor Andrew Cuomo—were asked by Kenan Thompson’s debate moderator what they thought the biggest issue they would have to confront as mayor would be, Johnson appeared, exclaiming, “It’s me!”
“Yes, they can pretend this election is about housing and taxes, but we all know it’s about me, right?” Trump asked. “I’m going to be very involved, very hands on… This guy knows about hands on, right Cuomo?” he asked, pointing to Teller.
“Hey-o, you got me,” Teller replied. Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021 after 13 women accused him of sexual harassment and misconduct.
Trump also took aim at Sliwa’s “Emily in Paris-looking hat” which is part of his signature look as founder of the Guardian Angels, and Mamdani’s youth, telling the audience, “He’s too young to lead, folks. He doesn’t have the wobbly walk or, frankly, the mind I have.”
“Good brain,” Austin’s Trump continued. “I took a cognitive test, I did so well on my cognitive test that they immediately gave me an MRI.”
The (real) president let slip earlier this week that his most recent checkup included an MRI, though officials declined to provide further details about the president’s condition.
“I may not live in New York anymore, but I’m always watching,” Trump warned the candidates, who will face off at the ballot box on Tuesday.
“Lurking in the shadows, much like the late, great, Phantom of the Opera. Terrible what happened to him in terms of opera and with regard to being burned by chandelier. Perhaps I’ll add ‘New York mayor‘ to my list of duties.”
Johnson-as-Trump then broke out into song, warbling several lines of “The Music of the Night” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera while holding a mask.
The president has not shied away from commenting on the election consuming his hometown, labelling frontrunner Mamdani a communist and warning him to “do the right thing” as mayor, otherwise New York would not be “getting any money.”
He also declined to endorse Sliwa, who won the Republican primary in June, wondering if he was “really” a Republican and asking if he would make Gracie Mansion “a home for the cats.”
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