Last Episode of Saturday Night Live for 2016 Features The Return of Alec Baldwin's Trump Impersonation

By Jack Bing - 19 Dec '16 23:04PM

Alec Baldwin returned to Saturday Night Live as President-elect Donald Trump last Saturday. "I won't apple-agize," Baldwin tweeted, referencing his previous SNL joke that Trump cannot pronounce the word "apologize."

"Tonight at 11:30. Live." Baldwin also inserted a photo of himself with his Trump wig and costume.

For weeks, Baldwin and Trump have been engaged in heated interactions. On the one side, there's Baldwin, wearing orange makeup, mercilessly mocking Trump on his SNL sketches. And on the other side there's Trump, constantly tweeting and complaining about how unwatchable and unfunny SNL has become.

Last SNL episode of 2016. The episode's opening sketch began with a cold open that went straight to some sensitive spots for Trump: his relationship to Vladimir V. Putin, President of Russia, his courtship of Melania Trump, and his recent cabinet nominations and other blunders. The sketch also devoted a good deal of time to calling Trump's tweeting habit out.

In the cold open, Mr. Trump was seen retweeting while in a security briefing. His senior adviser Kellyanne Conway (portrayed by Kate McKinnon) explained: "He does it to distract the media from his business conflicts and all of the very scary people in his cabinet." But Mr. Baldwin's Trump responded with his own reason: "I do it because my brain is bad."

In the sketch, Mr. Trump was seen choosing Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas, as his secretary of energy after seeing him on 'Dancing with the Stars.' Mr. Trump reasons: "This guy has so much energy, it's just unpresidented." (The malapropism was used to reference a tweet Mr. Trump posted on Saturday morning where he wrote "unpresidented," which he deleted moments later and substituted with the correct word, "unprecedented."

A topless Mr. Putin (played by SNL cast member Beck Bennett) was also seen coming down the chimney with a Santa sack. He called Mr. Trump a gift and "the Manchurian candidate," subtly implying Mr. Trump was an unwitting Russian puppet.

Trump's Response. The real Trump responded just minutes after the skit on twitter. He once again called the show biased and unfunny, particularly singling out Baldwin's impersonation. Baldwin fired back: "Release your tax returns and I'll stop. Ha"