SNL Satirizes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Cold Open Sketch
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The new coverage focuses on Saturday Night Live’s latest cold open, in which Colin Jost’s Pete Hegseth addresses sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and jokes about a planned livestream of an execution. The sketch matters because the real proposal has drawn condemnation from lawmakers in both parties and the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The article says the ship had spent 265 days at sea without a port call, amid reports of poor conditions and low morale that the sketch portrays as dismissed by Donald Trump. It also mocks the redesigned Department of War eagle, which drew comparisons online to Nazi imagery, and includes James Austin Johnson as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., joking about recalled meat and the sailors’ role in testing it. The real execution concerns Nidal Hasan, who was sentenced to death for killing 13 people and injuring dozens at Fort Hood.
- SNL mocked Hegseth over a proposed televised execution.
- The USS Lincoln had been at sea for 265 days.
- The sketch also targeted the War Department eagle and meat recalls.
New here? Start with this
Pete Hegseth is the current US Defence Secretary. Several of his recent proposals and policy decisions have drawn criticism from lawmakers across both political parties and from religious leaders, including the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
These proposals include a plan to conduct a livestreamed execution of Nidal Hasan, a former soldier convicted of killing 13 military personnel in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood. The Defence Department has also redesigned its emblem, which some observers have compared online to Nazi imagery. Reports have also emerged of poor working conditions and low morale aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which spent 265 days at sea without a port call.
Criticism of these policies has emerged from lawmakers in both major political parties and from religious organisations including the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. The controversy has attracted the attention of satirists on late-night television programmes.
Full account
Saturday Night Live's latest episode featured a cold open sketch in which Colin Jost portrayed Pete Hegseth, the Defence Secretary, addressing the crew of the USS Lincoln aircraft carrier. The vessel had recently completed a 265-day deployment without port calls amid reports of poor conditions and demoralised personnel, a situation that had drawn limited attention from the Trump administration.
The sketch centred on satirising Hegseth's recent announcement regarding a livestreamed military execution. In reality, the Pentagon confirmed plans to broadcast the December execution of Nidal Hassan, convicted of a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood that claimed 13 lives. Jost's portrayal quipped that the execution would provide Christmas entertainment, whilst joking that should the condemned man survive the firing squad, he would be compelled to fight influencer Jake Paul. The sketch thereby mocked both the execution streaming announcement and broader concerns about the Defence Secretary's approach to leadership.
The sketch incorporated additional satirical elements targeting Hegseth's perceived lack of experience and theatrical persona. Jost's character wore an ammunition belt fashioned from Fireball cinnamon whisky bottles and stood before a redesigned Defence Department logo featuring an eagle with distinctly Nazi-influenced aesthetics. When a sailor questioned whether the imagery resembled a Nazi emblem, Hegseth responded that it was merely "an American eagle with a Nazi vibe." The comedy also featured a cameo from James Austin Johnson as Robert Kennedy Jr., the Health Secretary, discussing recalled meat products.
Both the Hegseth sketch and other episode segments referenced recent real-world controversies, including social media scrutiny of the eagle logo's resemblance to Nazi symbolism following Hegseth's Air Force Academy address. The sketch's irreverent tone reflected broader satirical criticism of the Defence Secretary's qualifications and public statements, whilst the episode's host, Shane Gillis, delivered an unrelated monologue about personal anecdotes.
Where outlets differ
Source 1 primarily covers Shane Gillis's hosting monologue and personal anecdotes, whilst Source 2 focuses exclusively on the Hegseth cold open sketch and its satirical targets
Source 1 emphasises the host's performance and inadvertent profanity during the episode, whereas Source 2 concentrates on the sketch's political and thematic content
Coverage
- The Hollywood Reporter — ‘SNL’: Pete Hegseth Celebrates USS Abraham Lincoln Homecoming to San Diego, “Which the President Just Asked Iran to Blow Up”
- Deadline — ‘Saturday Night Live’ Opens With An Overcompensating Pete Hegseth Pumping Up His Plans To Stream A Live Execution
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