Video taking off 12x its usual first day

Kenan Thompson's Jeffries has a warning for Trump: "Knock it off, buster"

SNL's post-midterm cold open crowds Trump, Vance, Hegseth and a real James Talarico into the Democrats' champagne party.

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Saturday Night Live Story of November 9, 2026Trari Newsroom

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Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 8,808,150 views a day, 12 times a normal first day on this channel (718,285).

Post-Midterm Cold Open - SNL

Video summary

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0:15Schumer and Jeffries toast the win on a sofa and size up their leadership.
1:31The pair weigh passing the torch to younger Democrats, then laugh the idea away.
1:54Trump bursts in to take credit for the victory and announce a "blue tsunami."
2:18JD Vance declares his era has begun, and Trump dismisses him immediately.
4:01Colin Jost's Pete Hegseth arrives pledging absolute loyalty to Trump.
5:42James Talarico enters as himself, introduced as the Democrat behind those daily fundraising texts.

Hakeem Jeffries has a plan for standing up to Donald Trump, and Kenan Thompson delivers it with complete seriousness: look him dead in the eye and say, "Hey! Knock it off, buster."

That sets the tone for Saturday Night Live's "Post-Midterm Cold Open - SNL", the opening sketch of the episode Druski hosted. Sarah Sherman's Chuck Schumer and Thompson's Jeffries sit on a sofa in Washington, champagne in hand, admiring what Schumer calls "the dream team." When the idea of handing the party to younger Democrats comes up, they laugh it off.

Then the room fills up. James Austin Johnson's Trump arrives to take credit for the Democrats' win, borrowing a line from "Moana's big fat friend": "You're welcome." Jeremy Culhane's JD Vance announces that "the era of Vance" has begun and is sent away almost at once. Trump puts on a construction hardhat to talk about his ballroom. Colin Jost, away from the Weekend Update desk, plays a Pete Hegseth who pledges total loyalty and describes his "YOLO lifestyle: you only lose often."

The last guest is not an impersonation. James Talarico walks on as himself, introduces himself as the Democrat who has been texting everyone for money, and shares "Live from New York" with Johnson's Trump.

The sketch drew about 8.6 million views in its first 23 hours, around twelve times the channel's usual first day for a regular video. Comments came in roughly sixteen times faster than usual. Many are about Talarico's entrance and the applause he got, with Texans among the loudest voices. Others praise Sherman and Thompson for keeping straight faces through long stretches of Trump's rambling.

The rest of the night traveled well too. The Weekend Update on the Democrats winning Congress and Druski's Theranos documentary parody, "Dru Can See Everything - SNL," each drew several times the usual first-day audience.

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