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Alec Baldwin's Trump Can't Rally The Troops And Ivanka Is 'Complicit' On 'SNL'

Saturday Night Live had a lot of goofy, apolitical fun Saturday, but took some time to take the occasional dig at the Trump administration.

Anyone who's seen the movie Independence Day remembers the scene when President Thomas J. Whitmore, played by Bill Pullman, gives the ultimate inspirational speech to rally the troops — that against all odds, they can fight and defeat the evil aliens bent on destroying humanity.

On Saturday, SNL imagined if President Trump were in that same position.

Alec Baldwin returned as Trump, decked out in a flight jacket, as Trump has been seen wearing recently. Trump tries and fails to give a similar inspirational speech to the soldiers gathered, but largely goes off topic.

In the movie, President Whitmore says: "We can't be consumed by our petty differences any more. We will be united in our common interest."

Baldwin's Trump takes a different approach.

"Actually," he says, "the aliens are already here. They've been hiding in this country for hundreds of years, it's a fact. They're shapeshifters. They look like regular people but they're aliens. Look, there's one right there."

He points to Leslie Jones, a black woman.

"What? I am not an alien," she says.

"Yes she is, and so is the woman next to her, right there."

He points to Sasheer Zamata, who is also black. She looks at Jones, and looks back. "Oh, OK. ... No."

Scarlett Johansson was the host of the show. It was her fifth time — she joined the "five-timers club."

In a recorded fake commercial, she played Ivanka Trump. It's an ad for a new perfume: Complicit.

"She's a woman who knows what she wants and knows what she's doing," the voice-over says. "A feminist, an advocate, a champion for women, but like, how?"

Ivanka Trump has talked about women in the workforce and portrayed her father as an advocate for working women.

"The fragrance for the woman who could stop all this, but won't," the voice-over says.

On "Weekend Update," Kate McKinnon once again played Attorney General Jeff Sessions, joining Alex Moffat's Sen. Al Franken. (Coincidentally, the real Al Franken used to appear on and write for SNL at times in the '70s, '80s and '90s.)

Earlier this month, Sessions recused himself from investigations into Russian influence in the election after he told Franken in his confirmation hearing under oath that he "did not have communications with the Russians." Reports later emerged that Sessions met with the Russian ambassador last year.

Moffat's Franken asks Sessions to put his hand on the Bible and swear to tell the truth, but Franken has some trouble getting Sessions to agree:

The show returns live April 8 with host Louis C.K. and musical guest The Chainsmokers.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

James Doubek is an associate editor and reporter for NPR. He frequently covers breaking news for NPR.org and NPR's hourly newscast. In 2018, he reported feature stories for NPR's business desk on topics including electric scooters, cryptocurrency, and small business owners who lost out when Amazon made a deal with Apple.