The White House slammed “Saturday Night Live” after a joke referencing President Donald Trump and assassination drew cheers from the studio audience.
The moment came during the show’s “Weekend Update” segment, when Michael Che referenced Trump attending a theater performance before pivoting to a punchline tied to Abraham Lincoln’s killing.
“I think that’s cool that the president is going to the theater,” Che remarked with a smirk. “I mean — what’s the worst that could happen?”
The audience responded with loud applause, a reaction that quickly became part of the controversy surrounding the segment.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle rejected the tone of the show in comments to Fox News.
“‘Saturday Night Live’ hasn’t been a good television show since President Trump hosted it,” Ingle stated.
Trump hosted the NBC program in 2015 during the Republican primary, years before entering the White House.
The exchange unfolded against the backdrop of real-world threats faced by the president. Trump survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign, a fact that sharpened the reaction to the joke and the audience’s response.
At a July 13 rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, a bullet fired by Thomas Crooks grazed Trump’s ear. A second attempt on Sept. 15 was stopped when Secret Service agents intercepted Ryan Wesley Routh at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
The episode itself moved through a series of political sketches that leaned heavily on recent controversies and personal attacks.
The cold open centered on Attorney General Pam Bondi’s firing, placing the political shakeup inside a parody Final Four postgame show where Kenan Thompson, portraying Charles Barkley, veered away from basketball commentary and into direct criticism.
“It is a shame when somebody gets fired,” Thompson remarked before continuing, “But we should all be glad that freckle-chested dragon lady is gone.”
Ashley Padilla entered as Bondi and interrupted the segment, shifting the focus from commentary to confrontation inside the sketch.
“I’m sorry, Charles, but I can’t let the lies you said about me go unanswered,” Padilla responded. “The truth is, I was amazing at my job.”
She reframed the firing as a milestone, leaning into the absurdity built into the premise.
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“I am proud to say I made history as the first woman ever to be fired as attorney general,” Padilla added. “I shattered that glass exit door!”
The portrayal escalated as the character reacted emotionally, pushing the joke further into ridicule.
“They threw my headshot in the trash like it was the Epstein files!” she continued.
Bondi’s real-world response took a different direction. In a farewell message posted to X after her removal, she thanked Trump for the opportunity to serve rather than responding to the show’s portrayal.
Over the next month I will be working tirelessly to transition the office of Attorney General to the amazing Todd Blanche before moving to an important private sector role I am thrilled about, and where I will continue fighting for President Trump and this Administration.…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) April 2, 2026
Later in the broadcast, the focus shifted to Kristi Noem’s husband, Byron Noem, following reports about his secret cross-dressing life — a revelation the sketch turned into a central visual and comedic target.
Sarah Sherman portrayed Byron Noem in tight pink biker shorts and giant lopsided fake breasts, making the costume itself the foundation of the bit while interacting directly with Che.
“Hey Michael, my eyes are up here, my nipples are out here,” Sherman said.
The performance pushed further, challenging the audience and amplifying the shock element tied to the underlying report.
Kristi Noem's husband stops by the Update desk pic.twitter.com/JvJ9GgYCHO
— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) April 5, 2026
“I dare you to kink shame me on national TV about my insane clown juggalows and tiny, teeny, little pink bike shorts,” Sherman added.
The sketch built around the reported double life, using the exaggerated look and dialogue to highlight and mock the situation rather than moving past it quickly.
It then pulled Kristi Noem into the scene, tying the segment to her own controversies and widening the scope of the joke.
“What about my wife, Kristi Noem? Anything to add about my sweater puppies?” Sherman asked.
“Did someone say puppies?” Padilla responded while stepping in as Noem, referencing the passage in Noem’s 2024 book describing the shooting of her dog.
The show had already targeted Noem earlier in the year following her removal from her role and reassignment as special envoy to the Shield of the Americas.
In that earlier sketch, Padilla portrayed Noem during a staged press conference and framed the move as self-inflicted.
SNL's Kristi Noem: "I have no regrets. Because like they say, you miss 100% of the dogs you don't shoot." pic.twitter.com/BtJxYq0ejD
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) March 8, 2026
“I just want to make it clear that I didn’t get fired, I self-deported,” Padilla said.
She continued the portrayal with another line tied to the character’s image.
“As I told my plastic surgeon, the work is never done,” Padilla added.
The sketch closed with a line referencing the same controversy.
“I gave my all to the DHS and I have no regrets, because like they say, you miss 100 percent of the dogs you don’t shoot,” she continued.
Outside the broadcast, cast member Chloe Fineman drew criticism after recounting an incident from her time as a teenage camp counselor during a Vanity Fair video.
“I was fired as a camp counselor,” Fineman recalled. “I pantsed a boy.”
She described the interaction that led up to it, explaining that the boy repeatedly lifted her shirt.
“He would be like, ‘Hey, could I have a hug?’” Fineman said. “And then I’d go to hug him and he’d lift my shirt.”
She then detailed how she responded during a hike. “I was like, ‘I’m going to get back at you,’” Fineman continued. “And so we were on a hike and I was like, ‘Hey, Ollie, go look over there. It’s a hawk.’ He looked and then I yanked his pants down, and then I was fired.”
A report from Variety indicated that additional details from the original recording were later removed from the version released publicly.
The report stated that Fineman initially described the boy as 6 years old, a detail not included in the edited clip.
Variety also reported that Fineman said the boy’s “little ding-a-ling was out,” while Padilla responded, “Oh, honey, I think you’re on a list somewhere.”
Another portion of the recording was also cited. “He wasn’t wearing underpants, and then a giant school bus drove by,” Fineman said in the original version, according to the report.