Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley appeared on the latest episode of “Saturday Night Live,” taking the opportunity to take shots at her rival, former President Donald Trump, and grapple with a controversy from her campaign regarding the causes of the Civil War.
During the opening act of NBC’s comedy show, also known as “SNL,” Haley was introduced as a “concerned South Carolina voter” in a town hall sketch featuring cast member Kenan Thompson portraying CNN’s Charles Barkley and Punkie Johnson playing CNN’s Gayle King. Barkley and King co-host a talk show on CNN called “King Charles.”
“I see dead people.” That’s exactly what voters will think if this race is between Trump and Biden in the fall.
Had a blast tonight on SNL! Know it was past Donald’s bedtime so looking forward to the stream of unhinged tweets in the a.m. pic.twitter.com/W43LlPOoi2
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 4, 2024
Haley asked former President Donald Trump, depicted by cast member James Austin Johnson, why he would not debate Haley — a nod to Trump’s real-life refusal to participate in any of the GOP primary presidential debates this election cycle.
The exchange that followed showed Johnson’s Trump mixing up Haley with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), leading Haley to suggest a mental competency test — another echo of real-life events — and Haley joking about Trump’s legal issues and voters being concerned about the ages of Trump and President Joe Biden.
After Johnson’s Trump said he would beat Haley in the primary in South Carolina, Haley’s home state where she once served as governor, Haley asked him if he won his home state — New York — in the last election.
“I won Staten Island and the part of Long Island where the fist fights happen; where they get out the cars if you honk at them. I love my world star whites,” Johnson’s Trump said.
The end of the sketch featured the show’s host for the night, “Bear” star and Emmy winner Ayo Edebiri, posing a question to Haley that gave the candidate another opportunity to say whether slavery was a cause of the Civil War.
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Haley drew backlash in recent weeks when she cited the causes of the Civil War without mentioning slavery. She later said “of course” slavery was central to the conflict and conceded that she should not have left it out of her answer in the first place.
“I was just curious: What would you say was the main cause of the Civil War? And do you think it starts with an ‘s’ and ends with a ‘lavery?’” Edebiri asked.
“Yep, I probably should have said that the first time,” Haley said in a response. The candidate then ended the sketch with the traditional, “And live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”