WASHINGTON, DC — The writers at “Saturday Night Live” are poking fun at Republican lawmakers over their staunch backing of President Donald Trump. In a cold open, Kyle Mooney, portraying “Meet The Press” moderator Chuck Todd, asks prominent GOP lawmakers Lindsey Grahm (Kate Mckinnon), Susan Collins (Cecily Strong) and Mitch McConnell (Beck Bennett) why they flip-flopped on trade tariffs and what Trump would need to do for them to rescind that support.
Todd opens the skit by asking the lawmakers why they support Trump’s trade tariffs with China despite opposing them in the past. McConnell takes the first crack at answering the question.
“Well, Chuck, there’s a simple answer to that. There was no collusion,” McConnell responds, to a confused Todd. When the moderator responds that he’s asking about China, not the Russia investigation, McConnell nods and replies, “Yeah huh.”
When Todd turns and repeats the question to Graham, hoping for a more satisfying response, Graham offers this: “Chuck, listen, when you have a president who’s a financial genius and a business Jesus like Donald Trump you just got to trust him.”
Graham then alludes to a recent New York Times investigation into Trump’s tax returns from the 1980s and 1990s.
“This man has lost 100 times more money than I’ve made,” said Graham.
When Todd then asks the panel whether they’d waver in their support for Trump if special counsel Robert Mueller testified to Congress that he believed the president committed obstruction of justice, the lawmakers say yes. McConnell said the country needs a leader who will do what it takes to win. Graham agreed.
“That’s absolutely right, see the best way to uphold the law is to be above it, Chuck,” Graham said, pointing into the camera.
But when Todd asks what would happen if Mueller testified that Trump colluded with Russia to meddle in the 2016 election, Collins said she’d have to pen a stern letter.
“Well I’d have to write a strongly worded email and send it straight to my draft folder,” she said.
The lawmakers came much closer to abandoning their support of the president when asked if it came out he was actually believed in Islam. McConnell “stress” eats a piece of lettuce just at the thought of such a scenario. Graham said as long as the tax cuts are still passed, he would be ok with it.
“Ok. Well I guess it’s As-Salaam-alaikum Mr. president,” Grahama said. The phrase means “peace be unto you” in Arabic.
In fact, the only scenarios in which the lawmakers seemed to consider backtracking their support, was if Trump either left his wife for Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York — and pledged to enact the so-called “Green New Deal” — or married a man.
“Now that just crosses the line. There’s just some things you can’t forget,” said McConnell, referring to the first scenario.
When asked directly whether that would be the straw that broke the camel’s back, McConnell replied, “It would not.”