25 best cold-opens in SNL history

11. SNL delivers inch-perfect recreation of Trump vs. Clinton debate

The Trump-Clinton debates were the stuff of legend. The first one, in particular, had plenty of instantly meme-able moments, from Trump saying “wrong” over and over, and Clinton’s “Trumped up, trickle down” comment. While it was clear that Clinton won the debate, Trump and his supporters accused her of knowing the questions in advance and preparing for them.

SNL made sure to capture all those angles in their much-anticipated first episode following the debate. Trump promised that he would be level-headed only to fall off the rails. Clinton brought up a number of his personal issues, rather than focus on her own platform. And at one point, Trump went on an unhinged racist rant that seemingly clinched the debate for Clinton. She, at one point, asked “can America vote now,” and she would’ve been better off for it, since James Comey wouldn’t have had time to cast doubt in voters by re-opening his investigation into her emails.

Anyone who watched the debate knew that SNL didn’t have to change much for their sketch to work. Sure enough, they stayed extremely faithful to the source material and just let McKinnon and Alec Baldwin, two heavyweight comedic actors, carry the load. While the script was great, the facial expressions of both actors, and McKinnon dancing every time Trump said something outrageous, was what really put this sketch over the top.

And while Trump getting elected means we’re seeing a lot more of Baldwin on SNL, they’ve done well to not let McKinnon’s talent go to waste. The list of political figures she has impersonated over the last few years, as referenced earlier, is seriously impressive.