‘SNL’ Pokes Fun at NBC Town Hall With Savannah Guthrie Smacking Down Donald Trump in Wrestlemania

Saturday Night Live started with a fair bit of action, thanks to the show’s recreation of NBC’s town hall with President Donald Trump. During the cold open, the show switched between showing viewers former Vice President Joe Biden’s town hall on ABC and Trump’s, which was moderated by Today anchor Savannah Guthrie. At one point during the segment, Trump (portrayed by Alec Baldwin) and Guthrie (portrayed by Kate McKinnon) even came to blows WrestleMania style to showcase how much the two went toe-to-toe during the town hall.

Many Americans initially criticized NBC for scheduling their town hall on the same night and time ABC was holding one with Biden. As McKinnon’s Guthrie said during the opening, “If you were angry at NBC for doing this town hall, just let me get a few questions in, and I think you’ll thank me.” She went on to say, “I’d like to start by tearing you a new one.” Like the real-life news anchor, McKinnon asked Baldwin’s Trump about a bevy of different issues, including his COVID-19 testing, his lack of condemnation of white supremacy during the first presidential debate, and his penchant for tweeting. On the topic of the president taking to Twitter frequently to share his thoughts (and to retweet others’), she said, “You’re not just someone’s crazy uncle.” While Biden’s town hall ended up descending into something akin to a PBS special, Trump’s event took a majorly combative turn. The two then began to fight WrestleMania style, which ended with McKinnon’s Guthrie slamming a folding chair over Baldwin’s Trump.

Even though NBC received criticism for scheduling their town hall with Trump on the same night and time that ABC was holding one with Biden, Guthrie did manage to earn a great deal of praise for frequently pressing Trump to answer questions related to his COVID-19 diagnosis, his behavior at the first presidential debate, and his political opponent. Although, Trump didn’t necessarily have something kind to say about the news anchor following the event. At a campaign stop in Florida on Friday, the president spoke about the town hall, which took place the night before, and even said that he was dealing with someone (i.e. Guthrie) who was being “crazy.”

“I had a lot of fun last night with that. That was a nice evening,” the president reportedly said. “Had a nice, pleasurable evening as I had somebody going totally crazy last night. I understand it worked out very well last night that’s what the word is I suppose. Another evening in paradise, I call it.”