‘SNL’ Cold Open: Sarah Sherman as Rachel Maddow on Trump and TikTok

Sarah Sherman opened the first “Saturday Night Live” episode of 2025 by portraying political commentator Rachel Maddow. In the sketch, Maddow hosted an MSNBC panel, which included Marcello Hernandez as Ari Melber, Ego Nwodim as Joy Reed, Heidi Gardner as Stephanie Ruhle and Andrew Dismukes as Chris Hayes.

The panelist began discussing the forthcoming inauguration, the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles and the TikTok ban.

“Hello, and welcome to MSNBC. I am Rachel Meadow and Dads, you better hide your older bookish lesbian daughters because yeah, I’m back on TV tonight for our special inauguration weekend coverage,” Sherman says.

Before the panelists could even get into the topics of the day. Sherman interrupts them saying, “We have some breaking news. Trump has apparently just told reporters that he would like to quote Trade Connecticut.”

She goes on to add, “Sorry, Ari, we’re getting breaking news that Trump just told a group of wildfire victims that quote, ‘Arnold Palmer had some of the longest balls in American history.’ You see, this is what he does to keep us from talking about disaster relief or the impacts of climate change.”

James Austin Johnson also appears during the sketch as President Donald Trump to chat about the TikTok ban.

“Yes, we love TikTok.,” Johnson says. “Don’t we love TikTok? We used to hate it, but then it quite frankly, in many ways got me elected. So now we love it. We also love the Riz word, don’t we folks? And they’re trying to take the Riz away from us. It’s so sad. They want ’em the hell out of you. We do a little Costco guys. Boom. And we’re doing Get Ready with me. That’s going to be fun. And we’re doing the challenges. Remember Ice bucket. We love ice bucket. Anyway, we may have to go over to reels with Marcus Zuckerberg. I like him now. Zuck, he looks better, much cooler in terms of perm and with regard to chain. And he will, of course be at my inauguration, which will be indoors too many people to fit outside. We’re very excited to be inaugurated on Martin Luther King Day. I like sharing the day, and we’re excited about my latest cabinet pick. It’s someone I know you’ll be very excited to see. George Santos.”

Bowen Yang joined the sketch as the disgraced former U.S. Representative. “I’m so honored to be joining Trump’s cabinet as Secretary of Fact-Checking and Ambassador to Sephora,” he says. “I’m part of the politician to cameo back to politician and eventually to jail pipeline. But while I’m excited for Monday, this has been a very hard month for me. I am so sad by the passing of Jimmy Carter. He had a great influence on me since he was my dad. Now, excuse me, I’m late for a date with my boyfriend, Luigi Mangione.”

Comedian Dave Chappelle is hosting the first episode of the new year. It is his fourth time hosting the beloved sketch comedy show. Grammy-award nominated rapper GloRilla is making her ‘SNL” debut as the musical guest.

Watch the sketch below: