On ‘Saturday Night Live,’ Alec Baldwin Sings a Swan Song for Trump -
By DAVE ITZKOFFMAY 21, 2017
It was a night of milestones on “Saturday Night Live,” which in the final episode of its 42nd season, said goodbye to the longtime cast members Bobby Moynihan (who is joining the CBS sitcom “Me, Myself & I”)
and Vanessa Bayer (who confirmed her departure in a bittersweet Instagram post).
This time, it was Mr. Baldwin as Mr. Trump, sitting at a piano
and playing “Hallelujah.” One by one, he was joined by other cast members and guest stars who have portrayed other members of Mr. Trump’s administration and family, including Beck Bennett as Vice President Mike Pence and Ms. McKinnon as the presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway.
As Mr. Trump, Mr. Baldwin closed the sketch by declaring, “I’m not giving up
because I didn’t do anything wrong.” Pointing to the group assembled behind him, he added, “But I can’t speak for these people.”
In his opening monologue, Mr. Johnson teasingly seemed to confirm the rumors
that he might seek the presidency in 2020, announcing that he was running on a ticket with a frequent “S.
The show started with an homage to a previous sketch
that opened “Saturday Night Live” on Nov. 12, following the 2016 presidential election, in which the cast member Kate McKinnon donned the guise of the defeated Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, sat at a piano and played the Leonard Cohen song “Hallelujah.” (Mr. Cohen had died earlier that week.)
N.L.,” hosted by Dwayne Johnson, seemed to wonder what would be left of a Trump administration for Mr. Baldwin to come back to in the fall.