'Saturday Night Live' Skewers Pete Hegseth Plans To Televise Execution

Key Points:

• Saturday Night Live's cold open featured Colin Jost portraying Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, addressing the crew of the USS Lincoln amid reports of poor conditions and low morale after 265 days at sea without a port call.
• The skit satirized Pentagon plans to livestream the December execution of Nidal Hassan, with Jost’s Hegseth humorously announcing a public execution and a follow-up fight with Jake Paul, drawing backlash from lawmakers and religious leaders.
• The sketch mocked Hegseth’s tough-guy persona, highlighting his lack of qualifications and featuring a controversial “Department of War” logo resembling Nazi imagery, which had sparked social media criticism previously.
• James Austin Johnson appeared as Robert Kennedy Jr., humorously addressing a meat recall and praising the sailors’ role in testing food on the USS Lincoln, adding to the satirical tone of the segment.
• The cold open concluded with Hegseth quoting Linkin Park instead of Abraham Lincoln, blending dark humor with wordplay about the crew’s difficult situation on the ship.