Studio 8H at New York City’s Rockefeller Center witnessed a unique showdown between Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump, albeit on the set of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL). In a CNN election-year town hall sketch, Haley, as herself, took the opportunity to rectify a major misstep on her campaign trail – her previous failure to acknowledge that slavery was the main cause of the Civil War.
During the skit, Ayo Edebiri from “The Bear” portrayed an audience member and posed a pointed question to Haley. She queried, “What would you say was the main cause of the Civil War? Does it start with an ‘s’ and end with ‘lavery’?” With a slight chuckle, Haley admitted, “Yep, I probably should’ve said that the first time,” before moving on to the customary SNL catchphrase, “And live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
This tongue-in-cheek appearance allowed Haley to address her previous misstep during a real-life town hall in New Hampshire, where she evaded the core issue by attributing the Civil War to “the role of government.” On SNL, Haley skillfully navigated the faux town hall, even putting James Austin Johnson’s Trump on the spot when she questioned why he wouldn’t debate her.
Johnson’s Trump, humorously mistaking Haley for Nancy Pelosi, responded with a mix of surprise and humor. He even went as far as proclaiming that women were terrible with money, referencing a recent defamation case where he was ordered to pay journalist E. Jean Carrol $83.3 million. Haley fired back by suggesting that perhaps Trump needed some financial assistance.
The skit continued with good-natured banter and playful exchanges, with Trump making light of Haley’s name and implying she wasn’t born in the U.S. Haley, undeterred, asked if Trump had won his former home state of New York, to which he replied, “I won Staten Island and the parts of Long Island where there are fist fights.”
After the show, Haley took to social media, tweeting, “Know it was past Donald’s bedtime, so looking forward to the stream of unhinged tweets in the a.m.” It was an amusing and lighthearted end to a memorable appearance.
Nikki Haley’s cameo on SNL not only brought some much-needed levity to the political arena but also allowed her to address her previous misstep. By openly acknowledging slavery’s role in the Civil War, Haley displayed a willingness to learn from her mistakes. And although it was all in good fun, this light-hearted exchange provided a glimpse into the personalities of these political figures. Who would have thought that SNL could serve as a platform for such important discussions?
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