On Saturday night, Saturday Night Live turned its spotlight back to Washington for a cold open that zeroed in on one of the more glaring moments of the week: a televised meeting in the Oval Office hosted by Donald Trump, during which a man fainted live on camera. The opener for host Nikki Glaser’s November 8 episode took that moment and held up a satirical mirror to the absurdity and moral void of what unfolded in real time. (NBC)
In the sketch, performed with trademark bite by cast member James Austin Johnson as Trump, the fainting incident becomes a grotesque punch-line. When one of the pharmaceutical executives collapses across the stage, “Trump” quips, with chilling detachment: “Oh, hi! Didn’t see you there. Someone was dying in my office. I think I’m playing this very normal.” (NBC) The sketch then targets how those around him — including the controversial figure Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — scrambled or fled, zombified by spectacle and self-interest.
From a progressive vantage point, this cold open accomplishes more than mere laughter: it exposes the grotesque intersection of politics, pharmaceuticals, and performative governance. The real-life meeting that inspired the sketch reportedly involved Trump welcoming executives from companies making GLP-1 drugs (weight-loss medications) to announce a pricing deal. (The Hollywood Reporter) However, the spectacle grew absurd when one executive collapsed mid-press conference, prompting a flurry of frenzied attention that was more about optics than the person in need. SNL flips the narrative — the fainting becomes a punch line, but also a powerful metaphor for how our leadership treats serious issues as stage props.
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The unspoken indictment: When the state and its corporate partners convene in a glamorous set piece to announce “solutions,” what happens when a human crisis disrupts the show? Does the politician pause? Does the corporate executive care? The sketch suggests they don’t. They are far too busy posing, calculating wins, and shaping the narrative. In the SNL version, Trump remarks: “Last week, it was the demolishing of the East Wing. This week, it’s a medical professional almost dying in my Oval Office at the mere thought of charging less for drugs.” (NBC)
That line is a sharp nod to real policy stakes: conversations around drug pricing and public health are not purely abstract — they determine whether someone can afford treatment, or even live with dignity. The business of celebrity-politics-corporate press conference in the sketch undercuts serious health policy with a selfie-friendly farce—the fainting executive spotlights how ill-equipped these rehearsed spectacles are for real suffering.
Moreover, from a liberal perspective, the sketch reminds us that governance must be about more than performance. While moments of crisis — economic, health, social — clamor for thoughtful responses and systemic change, too often what we get is photo-op theatre. SNL holds up an oft-ignored truth: power without empathy is not just ineffective — it’s fierce.
In mocking this moment, SNL invites us to ask: if the man falling faint in the Oval Office is treated like an accessory to the event, what does that say about how the influential treat people in crises more generally? If the focus is on optics and deal-making, the humanity evaporates.
At the end of the day, the sketch doesn’t just aim for laughs — it holds a mirror. It asks viewers to recognize that policies surrounding drug pricing, healthcare access, and corporate accountability are lived experiences. The casually cruel tone of the sketch reminds us that those in power often treat public health as a photo opportunity, and the rest of us are their background props. Watching it unfold may be funny — but the truth behind the joke is urgent.
Featured image via YouTube screengrab
