“I’m Nicki the Trumpie”: SNL Turns Nicki Minaj’s Trump Era Into Its Halloween Cold Open

Saturday Night Live wasted no time turning the week’s biggest political pop-culture storyline into comedy gold. The show’s Halloween episode on Saturday, October 31 — hosted by Inde Navarrette with Gracie Abrams as musical guest — opened with a sketch that brought Nicki Minaj’s very public embrace of Donald Trump straight to Studio 8H.

In the cold open, James Austin Johnson’s Trump interrupted the proceedings to introduce his “new friend and future Press Secretary”: Nicki Minaj, played by cast member Saidah Belo-Osagie. The bit leaned all the way into the headlines, with the faux Nicki declaring herself “Nicki the Trumpie” and joking that her career was the thing she was “killing” — before launching into a burst of animated, “Super Bass”-style delivery that had the fake Trump gagging and pushing her out of frame.

The sketch lands because the real story has been building for months. The idea of Minaj as a future White House Press Secretary started as online chatter from administration allies and supporters, but it picked up real steam when Trump himself was asked about it recently and said it was a good idea he would have to think about. That followed her appearance at a Trump rally in Michigan and a string of moments, on stage and online, where she has waved the MAGA flag — including recent jabs at Democratic figures.

It has also brought her plenty of backlash, which she has mostly shrugged off. That unbothered energy is exactly what the SNL writers were playing with: the joke isn’t just that she supports Trump, it’s that she seems completely unfazed by the reaction.

Whether Minaj responds remains to be seen. She has been focused on other matters lately, and if history is any guide, a spoof like this is unlikely to rattle her. But one thing is certain — when your political era becomes the cold open on Halloween weekend, you are officially part of the cultural conversation.

Did SNL get it right, or did they miss the mark? Let us know in the comments, and keep the requests coming at the Kiss 101.7 request line, +1 302-357-9831.

Source: HotNewHipHop