Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon Are Over Playing Trump and Hillary in 'SNL's' Cold Open

Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon joined forces as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in 'Saturday Night Live's' cold open.

View this video on YouTube

youtu.be

Perhaps the only thing more grueling than actually being Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton these last few weeks has been playing them on TV. So when Saturday Night Live called on Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon to reprise their roles as the dueling candidates one final time before Tuesday’s election, it was no surprise when they couldn’t even make it to show's opening line, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night Live!”

The skit—which began with an appearance by Trump and Clinton on Erin Burnett OutFront—took a hard left when it was time for Trump to deliver his final plea to Americans. After Hillary blamed Trump for ruining everything Americans hold dear, things like “kindness, decency, Tic Tacs, Skittles, taco bowls, father-daughter dances, bright red hats, the word ‘great’ the color orange, men,” it was Trump's turn to lay into Hillary. Not so fast.

Instead, a completely exasperated Baldwin broke character to let us all know how dirty playing Donald Trump has made him feel. “I’m sorry, Kate,” he said. “I just hate yelling all this stuff at you like this,” before asking the audience, “Don’t you guys just feel gross all the time about this?” Then, as the opening chords of Arcade Fire's soaring anthem “Wake Up” rang out through the studio, Baldwin and McKinnon joined hands and ran through Times Square like two bipartisan besties. There was random hugging, there was pretzel eating, and for a brief moment, things seemed right in the world.

After their impromptu jaunt through the city, Baldwin and McKinnon returned to the studio on a serious note. “None of this will have mattered if you don’t vote,” Baldwin said. “And we can’t tell you who to vote for,” McKinnon, added. “But on Tuesday, we all get a chance to choose what kind of country we want to live in.” Take a bow, guys. 

Latest in Pop Culture