“Saturday Night Live” reimagined Season 3 of “The White Lotus” with a political twist, bringing viewers an aptly titled spoof — “The White Potus.”
Jon Hamm returned to the late-night sketch comedy show April 12 as a fourth time host (with over a dozen cameos under his belt), alongside musical guest, Lizzo.
On the heels of the season finale of “The White Lotus,” the episode featured a star-studded spoof of the HBO dark comedy.
In the sketch, Jason Isaacs’ character Timothy Ratliff was swapped with James Austin Johnson as President Donald Trump, while Parker Posey’s Victoria Ratliff was replaced with Chloe Fineman as Melania Trump.
Fineman adopted Posey’s dramatic southern drawl as she checked up on her husband, while Johnson’s Trump appeared withdrawn, relying not on lorazepam to get through the day, but rather a pill bottle full of McDonald’s chicken nuggets.
Patrick Schwarzenegger’s character Saxon Ratliff was fittingly swapped out with Mikey Day as Donald Trump Jr., with former cast member Alex Moffat reprising his Eric Trump impression as Sam Nivola’s portrayal of Lochlan.
The duo was together in the kitchen making the show’s infamous protein shakes, which Moffat mistakenly took as a physical shake, shimmying his shoulders before Day guided him in the right direction. That didn’t stop Moffat from adding his Rolex into the blender after his brother told him that it was “about time.”
“The White Potus” swapped out Saxon and Lochlan for Donald Jr. and Eric.Saturday Night Live / YouTube
After Day pointed out that Ivanka Trump had been “M.I.A. for dad’s entire presidency,” the spoof cut to Scarlett Johansson at a meditation session à la Piper. The group was asked if they were “willing to give up greed and material possessions in order to lead an honest and ethical life?” to which Johansson looked disgusted and immediately tiptoed quietly out of the room.
Scarlett Johansson made a surprise cameo during the spoof.Saturday Night Live / YouTube
The Ratliff family’s financial problems mirrored some of the current financial troubles of the United States, including recent stock market plunges and the president’s tariff plan.
Johnson appeared to become increasingly more distant as Fineman droned on about what would happen to the country, while he checked scathing headlines on his phone.
Chloe Fineman suspended disbelief with a Southern drawl for Melania Trump.Saturday Night Live / YouTube
Hamm also appeared in the sketch as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (an apparent nod to Walton Goggins’ character Rick), who rattled off a list of some of his “crazy ideas” which included a “syringe full of active measles virus” and taking “all the fluoride out of the drinking water.”
Jon Hamm channeled Rick’s unhinged energy through his Robert F. Kennedy Jr. portrayal.Saturday Night Live / YouTube
Lizzo portrayed a version of Natasha Rothwell’s character Belinda as she checked her bank account amid the financial news, shocked to see that it said $5 million, but not for the same reason as Belinda.
“Oh my god, there’s $5 million in my bank account,” Lizzo said. “It was $20 million last week!”
Things aren’t looking too hot for Lizzo’s bank account.Saturday Night Live / YouTube
Even the trio of friends got a political makeover.
Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb and Carrie Coon were replaced with Heidi Gardner as Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Ashley Padilla as Attorney General Pam Bondi and Marcello Hernandez as Secretary of State Marco Rubio. And much like Jaclyn, Kate and Laurie, Gardner and Padilla broke off from the group to gossip about Hernandez in front of his face.
The sketch continued to divulge into strange territory, including former cast member Beck Bennett reprising his Vladimir Putin impression to provide comfort to Hernandez. Bennett also paid Johnson a visit, awakening him from a bad dream.
Johansson, Moffat and Bennett weren’t the only celebrity cameos of the evening either.
During Hamm’s monologue, he joked that cameos can really come in handy “when a monologue is feeling aimless and needs a jolt of energy.” Cue Kieran Culkin joining the actor on stage.
When Hamm seemed disappointed because he was “doing really well all by myself,” Culkin said that he would make it up to him. Hamm seemed pleased with the offer, adding, “Cool man, just give me your Oscar.”
“Look, don’t you have enough man? I’ve seen those photos of you in your gray sweatpants,” Culkin joked. “Must be nice.”
The two ended in a bit of a spat over which show was better — “Mad Men” or “Succession.” Culkin barely had a chance to voice his opinion though, with Hamm ushering him off-stage to finish his monologue solo.
