‘SNL’ Welcomes Steve Martin as Roger Stone in Tucker Carlson Parody During Cold Open

Saturday Night Live parodied Fox News’ coverage of President Donald Trump re-opening the government and Roger Stone’s arrest Friday with a Tucker Carlson Tonight sketch featuring Steve Martin as Stone.

Following appearances by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (Kate McKinnon) and Jeanine Pirro (Cecily Strong), Carlson (Alex Moffat) began discussing Stone’s arrest.

Stone, a former aide for Trump, was indicted Friday as part of special counsel Robert S. Mueller’s Russia investigation. He was arrested by FBI agents at his Florida home.

“What a fun couple of days! I’m lovin’ the ride! Go Nixon,” Martin as Stone said after being introduced. Carlson then reminded him of the charges he faces, including lying to Congress.

“Honestly, I think I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. I mean, seven felonies! I can’t even count that high,” Stone said. “How cool is that?”

Carlson reminded Stone that he is supposed to be playing the pity card, especially after the FBI raided his home. But Martin’s Stone cannot contain his excitement.

At the end, Martin referenced one of his classic SNL sketches, saying, “I’m just a normal and straight-forward guy.”

On Friday afternoon, Trump agreed to a stop-gap bill that will temporarily fund every department of the government through Feb. 15. The deal was passed by the House and Senate and signed by Trump, ending the longest government shutdown in U.S. history after 35 days. Part of the deal includes a bipartisan Congressional conference committee to come up with a new border security plan.

Although the deal did not include the $5.7 billion Trump demanded to fund the wall, the president refused to say he caved.

“I wish people would read or listen to my words on the Border Wall. This was in no way a concession,” Trump wrote on Friday. “It was taking care of millions of people who were getting badly hurt by the Shutdown with the understanding that in 21 days, if no deal is done, it’s off to the races.”

The shutdown began in December when Trump refused to sign any funding bill that did not include funds for the border wall. During the shutdown, about 800,000 federal workers missed two paychecks, and the Trump Administration was criticized for comments that were out of touch with employees’ struggles to pay for food, rent and other necessities. Trump said federal workers will receive their back pay “very quickly.”

SNL returned from its winter break last week with a blistering sketch parodying the shutdown. In the cold open, Alec Baldwin’s Trump played Deal Or No Deal, in which he rejected every deal. At the end, he accepted an offer from a Clemson student, played by Pete Davidson, whose offer was “hamberders,” a reference to Trump’s misspelling of hamburgers on Twitter.

Colin Jost and Michael Che also joked about it during “Weekend Update” last week.

“Well, guys, we were off for a month, but conveniently, so was the government,” Jost joked.

“President Trump, the man who said he would own the shutdown, clearly does not care about the people who are working unpaid, who can’t afford basic things like food,” Jost later added, referencing the infamous fast food buffet Trump served to the Clemson football team. “But why would he care? He’s a billionaire who controls all the hamburgers in the world.”

New SNL episodes air at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo credit: NBC