Saturday Night Live Season 50 has welcomed a number of special guests amid the 2024 TV schedule, with one being Dana Carvey. This year, SNL tapped Carvey for a new political role, as the series veteran has been playing U.S. President Joe Biden. However, during the latest episode, he introduced an impression of another notable figure – Elon Musk. Carvey played the tech magnate during the cold open, and Musk himself took notice. With that, the businessman didn’t hold back his thoughts.
This week’s episode of SNL 50, which featured host Bill Burr and musical guest Mk.gee, was the first installment to air after the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election. Its cold open saw cast members – like Kenan Thompson, Heidi Gardner, Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman – address the audience. The group started with a somber address before joking about how they’ve always supported President-Elect Donald Trump. After the quips and before “hot, jacked Trump” came the enthusiastic impression of Elon Musk – a supporter of Trump – which is below:
As you can see in the clip, this version of the Tesla owner jumps up and down (which is a play on a viral moment from a Trump rally), musing that he now runs the country and dubbing himself “dark MAGA.” The impression seemed to generate laughs and cheers from the audience, but the mogul himself was not pleased. The 53-year-old South Africa native took to X (the platform he owns) to share his displeasure with the sketch. Not only did he state that “Dana Carvey just sounds like Dana Carvey” but he added these sentiments in another post:
SNL has been dying slowly for years, as they become increasingly out of touch with reality. Their last-ditch effort to cheat the equal airtime requirements and prop up Kamala before the election only helped sink her campaign further.
What Elon Musk is referring to in that latter sentence is referring to a conflict that surfaced a week ago, after Vice President and former Presidential candidate Kamala Harris appeared during SNL’s cold open last week. A Federal Communications Commission official argued that Harris’ surprise appearance was a method of evading the FCC’s Equal Time Rule. With that, NBC collaborated with the Trump campaign and later allowed an election spot to air during its Sunday Night Football block as noted by Variety.
This latest Saturday Night Live cold open didn’t mark the first time that the show has addressed the result of a presidential election. For instance, in 2016, after Donald Trump’s first win, Kate McKinnon – while dressed as Hilary Clinton – played “Hallelujah” on the piano. (The sketch meant a lot to McKinnon, who discussed it years later). And, in 2020, Kamala Harris, who was played by Maya Rudolph, and Joe Biden – played by Jim Carrey – celebrated their victory. And, in the process, Carrey channeled Ace Ventura.
It should be mentioned that Elon Musk – who’s made TV and movie appearances – also hosted Saturday Night Live in 2021. His appearance on the show – which saw him dress up as Wario and more – was met with mixed reviews. Considering his reaction to the latest episode, it seems reasonable to assume that Musk has no plans to return to the show.
Saturday Night Live’s next episode airs on November 16 at 11:30 p.m. ET, at which point Charli XCX will serve as host and musical guest. Those who’d like to watch the latest episode can do so by streaming it with a Peacock subscription.