Romantic party crasher Domingo made his return to *Saturday Night Live* alongside host and musical guest Sabrina Carpenter, as politics took a backseat to pop culture.
Carpenter took over hosting duties for the first time and performed hits from her album *Man’s Best Friend* during her double-duty role for the night. The show’s start was delayed due to college football.
Domingo, now a recurring character played by Marcello Hernández, returned as Chloe Fineman’s Kelsey’s once again humiliated husband Matt, played by Andrew Dismukes. Kelsey was focused on Matt’s 30th birthday, planning a romantic night out with a table for two and her best friends—the “Kelsquad.” The group sang about their recent trip to Nashville with Kelsey and Domingo, chanting, “D, O, M, I, N, G, O, Domingo!”
Enter Domingo: a traveling Lothario and goateed singer who crooned about the night he and Kelsey had in Nashville—a night that, he noted, triggered a noise complaint. A frustrated Matt warned, “Kelsey, I’m serious, this is strike six!”
While politics largely took a backseat, they weren’t completely absent from the show. President Donald Trump, portrayed by James Austin Johnson, continued his political strategy of appearing on podcasts. This time, Trump was a guest on a podcast hosted by the “Snack Homiez,” a group of 12-year-old boys and one 13-year-old “unc,” portrayed by Carpenter and women on the cast.
The group discussed “GOATed” vegetables and the best Halloween candies. Carpenter’s character noted, “Some vegetables are fire, and some vegetables low-key be a fruit.”
Trump was introduced by podcast host Braylor, played by Fineman: “You know him, he’s all over TikTok: President Donald J. Trump.”
When asked about his favorite vegetable, Johnson’s Trump replied, “I’ve never been one for the veggies,” before stating, “Ding Dongs. I like a Ding Dong. We love Little Debbie. She does tremendous work. It’s awful what happened to her.”
Johnson’s Trump then meandered off-topic in response to a question about his thoughts on Airheads candy. “You know who I do like is George Santos,” he told the boys. “He’s weird. He’s a liar. I think he’s great. We don’t know anything about him. He’s one of our favorite people. I don’t know him at all. I don’t know anything about him.”
Trump on Friday commuted the sentence of the former U.S. representative, who served only a few months of a more than seven-year sentence for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Johnson’s Trump referenced Santos’ commutation as he spoke about the day’s nationwide No Kings protests. “The people are marching because they’re happy he’s free, right?” he said of Santos. “It’s a ‘Yes, King’ march. So, maybe if I think about it, blue Airhead,” Johnson’s Trump finally concluded.
*Saturday Night Live* airs on NBC, a division of NBCUniversal, which is also the parent company of NBC News.
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/tv/snl-lets-pop-culture-shine-squeezing-little-politics-sabrina-carpenter-rcna238417