Saturday Night Live newcomer James Austin Johnson made an impression on Saturday as he impersonated Donald Trump in a hilarious sketch. The featured player, who joined the cast this season, did a dead-on impression of the 45th president invading an interview with “Judge Janine,” aka Janine Pirro played by Cecily Strong to bulldoze Virginia governor-elect Glenn Youngkin played by Alex Moffat.
In the sketch, Glenn’s interview with the FOX News host went south when it was overtaken by the former president, who went on various hilarious tangents in a “Rundown.” Johnson’s Trump took on similar vocal inflections and idiosyncrasies from the 75-year-old, getting lost on random points about things like the “PC police,” the movie Dune, the actor Jason Mamoa, and more, to finally circle back around to the topic of “Virginia,” aka Glenn’s state of office.
“I was never there-there for Glenn, but I told lots of people they should vote for Glenn, okay?” Johnson as Trump stated. “And you know what, most people don’t like Glenn — but he’s a wonderful guy, okay?” the actor hilariously quipped.
Fans really couldn’t get enough of new player James’ Trump impression, with numerous people lauding the performance across social media. “On #SNL, James Austin Johnson’s debut portrayal of Donald Trump tonight is SCARY good… He has the voice absolutely DOWN,” wrote one user. “James Austin Johnson’s Trump voice is terrifyingly spot-on,” another person stated. “Wow, James Austin Johnson is CRUSHING the Trump impression,” another follower exclaimed. “Most accurate political impression ever on SNL, hands down!”
James joined the cast for its 47th season. After getting his comedy start in Nashville, TN, James appeared in various shows, including Tuca and Bertie, as well as several movies, like the Coen Brothers movie, Hail, Caesar! The comedian started gaining traction across the internet for his impressions when videos of him impersonating Trump during the 2020 election went viral. The clips, which featured him going on about random things such as Scooby-Doo and Weird Al Yankovic‘s feud with Coolio. Those videos definitely contributed to James’ rise as well as the content of ‘SNL’ sketches!