When Shane Gillis hosted “Saturday Night Live” on February 24, multiple fans of the comedian were disappointed with the opening of the show. “I waited that entire cold open for SNL to do the one thing everyone wanted them to do, have Shane Gillis do a Trump impression,” one viewer wrote on X, formerly Twitter, at the time.
It turned out that the comic had saved his Donald Trump impression for a pre-recorded sketch titled “Trump Sneakers.” The sketch was a send up of Trump’s ostentatious $400 gold-colored sneakers, and featured Gillis as a man who was terrible at basketball until he was gifted magical sneakers. Those gold Trump-brand sneakers helped transform Gillis’ character into the former president. “I didn’t miss. It went in,” the faux-Trump said after missing a shot on the basketball court. The premise is that although the sneakers did not give him basketball abilities, it allowed Gillis’ character to bully people in a Trump-like manner.
One scene showed faux-Trump in bed with the sneakers on alongside a woman. “That was the most fantastic love-making you’ve ever had,” Gillis’ Trump said while trying to convince the unsatisfied partner. Later, Gilllis’ Trump steps on a scale, and shouts at it until the number drops down from 253 pounds to 170 pounds. Of course, that Trump impression was mild compared to the one that landed Gillis in hot water with the government.
