Sarah Sherman kicked off teh first episode of “Saturday Night Live” in 2025 with a spot-on impersonation of political commentator Rachel Maddow. the sketch featured Maddow hosting an MSNBC panel,with Marcello Hernandez as ari Melber,Ego Nwodim as Joy Reed,Heidi Gardner as Stephanie Ruhle,and Andrew Dismukes as Chris Hayes. The group dove into hot-button topics like the upcoming inauguration, the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles, and the controversial TikTok ban.
Sherman, in character as maddow, greeted viewers with her signature wit: “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.”
Just as the panelists were about to delve into the day’s pressing issues, Sherman interrupted with breaking news: “We have some breaking news. Trump has apparently just told reporters that he would like to quote Trade Connecticut.” She continued, “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 made an appearance as former President Donald Trump, discussing the tiktok ban, while Bowen Yang joined the sketch as a disgraced former U.S. Representative. Yang quipped, “I’m so honored to be joining Trump’s cabinet as Secretary of Fact-Checking and Ambassador to Sephora,” adding, “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 as he was my dad.Now,excuse me,I’m late for a date with my boyfriend,Luigi Mangione.”
The episode was hosted by comedy legend Dave Chappelle, marking his fourth time at the helm of the iconic sketch show. Grammy-nominated rapper GloRilla made her debut as the musical guest, adding a fresh energy to the night.
Watch the full sketch below:
