Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley showed up on Saturday Night Live‘s cold open to ask Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) about his refusal to get on the debate stage with his lone remaining GOP primary challenger.
“My question is: why won’t you debate Nikki Haley?” she asked during a faux CNN town hall event in her home state of South Carolina, which is next in line in the primary calendar.
Trump’s response was loud and confused: “Oh my God, it’s her: the woman who was in charge of security on Jan. 6! It’s Nancy Pelosi!” he exclaimed, similar to his real comment last month while at a campaign event in New Hampshire.
“Are you doing O.K., Donald? You might need a mental competency test,” Haley replied, prompting Trump to sing a familiar tune and brag about “acing” such tests. “They said I got a perfect score. I’m 100 percent mental.”
Haley went on to ask if he needs to borrow money in light of the $83.3 million defamation verdict handed down last month and his legal bills, only for Trump to respond with stream-of-consciousness blather.
The final question in the town hall came from this week’s SNL host, Ayo Edebiri, who directed it not at Trump, but Haley.
“I was just curious: what would say was the main cause of the Civil War, and do you think it starts with an “S” and ends in a “lavery”? she asked.
Haley, who didn’t mention slavery when asked that question late last year, owned up to it: “Yep, I probably should have said that the first time.”
Also during the town hall, Trump fully embraced the conspiracy floating around on right-wing media about Taylor Swift and the Super Bowl, specifically that the game is “rigged” so that she can endorse President Joe Biden.
“That all adds up to another stolen election: Taylor’s version,” he declared after reading way too much into the pop star’s song lyrics.
